The Nightstalker's Bow
by LoganMidnight
Summary: Guardian Lance Nightshade and his trusted ghost Shade are thrown into an unfamiliar world filled with monsters, demi-humans, and make believe heroes. Forced to wield a bow, they must clear the Waves of Calamity and get back home.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer - I do not own the Destiny franchise or The Rising of the Shield Hero

**Chapter 1 - A Legendary Bow**

The Vault of Glass.

A massive Vex stronghold where Atheon, Time's Conflux once stood in charge of a Vex army large enough to conquer the galaxy. That was until a fireteam of six Guardians entered the Vault and destroyed Atheon at its very core. Making the once busy, noise filled vault cold, silent, and empty.

Empty save for one Guardian. A Hunter by the name of Lance Nightshade.

He was crouched atop the cliff overlooking the Templar's Well, scanning the area below with his sniper.

He wore solid leather combat boots that were covered in black Vex plating as shin guards. On the upper legs were the same black plating. The under armor was a strong fabric colored black with white glowing lines running across it.

His arms were covered in the same type of fabric that covered his legs. His hands were covered in segmented black Vex plating that allowed his fingers to move comfortably while providing protection. His arms were plated with the same black Vex plating as his fingers and legs with the shoulder plates extending out slightly. White lines covered the inner elbow.

His torso was covered in more of the thick yet light Vex plating with the exception of a white spot on his chest that swirled with white energy that connected to lines of glowing white across his armor. The plating covered his entire torso yet still allowed free movement.

His helmet was black in color with three glowing red eyes, two were in the normal places while the third was in the middle and slightly above them. A small piece of metal was above the eyes creating a small cover over them.

Finally, the cloak on his back was made of a black, silky fabric that had symmetrical lines on the back of it. By the top of the cloak, behind Lance's neck, was a black metal plate. The metal plate had lines of glowing white energy wired through it leading to an antenna that rose to just below the height of Lance's head. The cloak had no hood to speak of.

The sniper in his hands was boxy. If you looked at it you would see that it's design was based off of the space suits astronauts wore when first exploring the Moon hundreds of years ago. Many beads were tightly wound to the scope and stock of the gun while the long barrel had rope tied around it. Right above the magazine was a circle with a small piece cut out of it tied to the rope. The base gun was black while the rope and beads were white.

This was Lance's Tranquility in time of need.

On his right thigh was a smooth, black hand cannon. The gun was boxy overall with a spike on the front just below the barrel. The barrel had two plates affixed on it with the front one having an iron sight connected to it.

This was a finely picked Kindled Orchid, Black Armory made.

There was no movement in the Templar's Well save for the small particles that floated through the air. Seeing this fact, Lance unscoped and stood up.

"How far away is that ghost's signal again?" Lance asked aloud.

A second of silence followed before another voice spoke. This one being mechanical in nature.

"If I'm right, it should just be past the Templar's door at the end of the room."

In a small flash of light, a construct appeared above Lance's shoulder. The construct was small with a sphere as its main body. The sphere had a white glowing mechanical eye while the rest of it was black. Connected to that sphere were three wing like metal plates that, when extended, made the basic shape of a triangle without the sides.

This was Shade, Lance's Ghost. A ghost who likes to masquerade as a harpy of Vex origin.

"Are you sure it's still alive?" The hunter asked, sceptical, "This is the Vault of Glass we're talking about."

"Yes, I'm sure." The ghost replied heatedly, "I'm locked on to it's signal. It's weak but still there, so hurry up."

Lance put his hands up in surrender, "Alright, alright." He then looked down at the well wearily, "It just seems too convenient, too easy."

The ghost rolled(?) it's eye, "Relax will you. Fireteams Wild and Foothold cleared this place years ago."

"Still." He backed away from the edge, mag locking his sniper to his back. Then, with a running start, Lance jumped off the cliff and into the Templar's Well.

"Here it is." Lance stated, calling out to Shade who was searching for the broken ghost a little ways away.

The ghost had a generalist shell on, meaning it probably never had a Guardian. Shade floated above it, sending out a beam of light to connect to it. After a full minute of scanning, the beam of light finally turned off and the ghost turned to his Guardian.

"It won't activate in here, to much darkness is still clouding the air." Shade summed up. "Grab it and we can call it a day."

Lance did just that, grabbing the deactivated ghost and putting it in an empty pouch on his waist. As soon as the ghost was safely stored away though, the air lit up.

Not wasting a second, he took his Kindled Orchid out of its holster and pointed in the direction of the condensing light.

"I told you something was up." Lance said to his ghost.

Instead of replying, the harpy shaped ghost disappeared in a flash of light and into the black cloaked guardian's head. Just in time for the first of many Vex to appear.

Several towering minotaurs with glowing purple shields appeared first, followed by a small army of goblins and harpys.

"I… don't think you can take all of those out by yourself." Shade stated inside of Lance's head.

"You think?" He replied sharply. He fired his hand cannon at the leading minotaur, causing its shield to detonate and disrupt nearby Vex. With this, Lance ran back into the Templar's Well only to find the rest of the army waiting for him.

"Shit!" He exclaimed when a volley of void energy originating from the numerous torch hammers flew toward him. He shade stepped out of the way of the volley, and when he was visible again there was a new gun in his hand.

The gun was as long as it was large. It was made of the same material the Kindled Orchid was made of, consisting of black plates layered over each other. The machine gun had a large stock that came to a skinny end at the barrel. The magazine were two cylinders put together to hold the 73 bullets that comes with it.

This was the Hammerhead that Lance used to strike his foes hard.

He fired the void rounds into the crowd of Vex, breaking shields and causing explosions.

A minotaur teleported behind Lance forcing him stop his onslaught and roll out of the way of a crushing melee attack sent by the Vex construct. He followed the roll with a poisoned smoke bomb, stripping it of its shield.

As the Hunter finished the minotaur off with his own melee, he heard a dreaded melody that was quickly covered by the sound of Vex weapon fire.

"Don't tell me…" Shade muttered in disbelief.

"What?" The Guardian questioned before he threw a Voidwall grenade, destroying a line of goblins, and switched to his hand cannon as the Hammerhead ran out of ammo.

The ghost didn't answer him though, "I thought they were destroyed with Atheon."

The Guardian became uneasier as he destroyed more of the countless Vex.

"What are you talking about Shad…" He trailed off, seeing the yellow glow on the stone floor. He looked at its origin and understood immediately.

I was a yellow, cubic shape that both endlessly shifted and stood forever still, humming an endless note that never existed. More filled the chamber, making a song of impossibilities.

They were the Oracles, constructs of time that protected the Vault of Glass when it was ruled by Atheon.

Lance stood silent, the battle tuned out from his mind, before he spoke quietly, "Shade, what's the chance of me getting out of here?"

"..." The ghost didn't speak, and he didn't need to. Fireteams Wild and Foothold barely survived the Oracles.

The difference was they had six Guardians and he was alone.

An army of hundreds of Vex and 20 Oracles stood in his way to freedom.

They both knew it was hopeless, and the Vex realized this too.

They stopped their attack.

All was silent except for the endless, mind numbing hum of the Oracles as they grew louder.

"Shade." Lance said to his faithful Ghost.

"Yes Guardian?" Shade replied coming out of hiding. The Vex didn't seem to care.

"Relay a message, however you can." Lance said while holstering his weapon, "Make sure no other Guardian enters this Vault alone."

No reply was heard as the hum of the Oracles became deafening.

…

…

There was only silence left.

(Transition)

The first thing he noticed were the priests.

There were about five of them, all wearing the same thing. Brown robes with gold accents was what they wore. All of them had their hoods up except for the one in the center. He had short, brown hair and a crown like piece of jewelry on his forehead.

"We did it!" The center priest exclaimed, "The summoning was a success!"

Before Lance could think of what was happening, he was alerted to someone to his side when he spoke up.

The man looked around 20. He wore a green hoodie that was white at the bottom and had white accents. His pants were just blue jeans. His feet were covered by blue tennis shoes. His hair was short, black, and it had a wild look to it. His eyes were a dark green.

Strangely enough, there was a steel shield with an emerald centerpiece strapped to his left arm.

"Where am I?" The man in green asked quietly.

The priest ignored him and pleaded, "O brave heroes, please save our world!"

"Excuse me?" Lance asked, but as he did three other voices, one being the shield wielder, copied him. They all looked at each other.

The man closest to the shielder looked to also be around 20, maybe older. He wore an open red jacket revealing a white shirt underneath. He wore tan slacks with a black belt and tennis shoes. His hair was a long and blond, tied into a ponytail. His eyes were a vibrant red.

In his right hand, there was a spear almost as tall as the man. It looked like it was made of steel with a ruby embedded into the top, just under the spear point.

The last man was younger, around 16-17 years old. He wore a dark blue hoodie that covered his entire torso and arms. With this he wore black slacks and tennis shoes. He had short and somewhat wellkept black hair and blue eyes that matched his jacket.

In his right hand, like the others, there was a weapon. A sword this time. It was made of steel with a sapphire embedded into the golden hilt.

Lance looked down at himself. His armor was still on, not a scratch on it. What interested him though was the weapon in his left hand.

It was a steel bow with a handle that curved inwards. On the handle there was a gem. From what he could tell, it was some kind of yellow topaz.

'Shade,' He thought, 'You still there buddy?'

'Yeah.' The ghost responded after a second, 'Just shaken up. Where are we?'

'Hopefully we're about to find out.' The guardian thought as the priest began to speak again, though he merely repeated his statement.

"O brave heroes, please save our world!" He pleaded again after no response.

"Seriously?" The man in green asked more than stated.

Lance followed by asking, "What do you mean by that?"

The others in the room turned to him and gave his armor a strange look before the priest spoke again.

"There is a long and complicated story behind this," He spoke with his arms raised, "But we've summoned you Four Cardinal Heroes here using an ancient ritual."

'Four Cardinal Heroes?' Shade asked, 'Does he mean you four?'

'Forget that,' Lance retorted, 'Is the ritual they are talking about summon those Oracles?'

The man continued, "Our world teeters on the brink of destruction." He clasped his hands together and bowed, "We beg you, O brave heroes! Please help us!"

'Heroes?' Lance looked at the other three with crystaled weapons and raised an eyebrow, 'All I see are civilians with weapons.'

It was green who responded, "I guess I could hear you out, at least."

The one in blue quickly followed though, "I refuse." He stated with no hesitation, causing green to look surprised.

"We can go back to our world, right?" The man in red asked, adding to the conversation. "We'll talk about your problems after that."

Blue stacked on more while raising his sword, "Don't you guys feel any guilt at all for bringing us here without our consent?"

"Are you willing to accommodate us?" Red asked with what could be seen as arrogance before adding, "Depending on your answer, we might end up becoming your enemies instead."

'What are those two doing, demanding respect and rewards like that?' Lance questioned, 'It's like they aren't taking this seriously.'

The priest gained a nervous look, "F-first we'd like you to have an audience with the king of our country, Melromarc."

Shade responded to this immediately, 'Cross checking all known maps. This will take a minute.'

The priest continued while walking forward, to which Lance got in a subtle ready stance, "You can negotiate your reward after that, so please…"

It was silent for a second before blue lowered his sword, "Fine, I guess."

He started to walk forward with red following him saying, "Not like our demands are gonna change, no matter who we talk to."

Green followed after them.

'Seriously.' Lance thought with a twitching eye, 'These guys aren't the least bit suspicious?'

He sighed and followed after them.

The next room had a staircase that lead further into the castle. At least Lance thought they were in a castle. The architecture match those of old structures in the European Wastelands.

'Well,' Shade started, 'I can confirm that this place is not on any known map of the Solar System.'

Lance showed no outward reaction, 'This is worse than I thought then.' The staircase kept spiraling up. 'Not only are we surrounded by unknowns, but we are also in uncharted territory.'

He was brought out of his thoughts when red spoke, "We really are in another world, huh?"

Lance looked at what he meant and stopped. A window was in the wall of the staircase. Daylight shone through showing a beautiful landscape of buildings and trees. Nothing like this was in the Last City, or on Earth in general.

It was beautiful to him.

'At least it has a nice view.' The ghost stated, knocking the guardian from his thoughts before the others noticed his stop. They continued walking up the steps.

After another minute of walking the exited into an empty courtyard. As they walked through the courtyard, Lance noticed a flash of movement above. Without moving his head he looked up.

A woman was looking out a window that overlooked the yard. She had dark red hair that reached her shoulders and light green eyes. The maroon dress she wore screamed royalty.

Before he could get a better look though, she went out of view.

(Transition)

The four were led to a room that was obviously the throne room. Arches lined the side of the room. Those arches were holding up a secondary floor where people would watch business in the throne room. The left wall of the room was made of windows, overlooking the city. The other side of the room had doors that led to other parts of the castle and a couple of highly dressed nobles.

The center path of the room was covered in red carpet that was lined with guards on either side. At the end of the carpet there were two thrones, only one was occupied.

The man sitting in that throne was obviously important. He was old, maybe around 60, it was hard for Lance to tell without more knowledge on this world's average lifespan. He wore white and black robes that were lined with gold. Amethyst could be seen on some of the gold pieces. Over this he wore a purple cloak that was lined with white fur. Around his neck was a gold necklace with several red Xs on it. His fingers were covered in gold and amethyst rings. Finally, on his head was a golden crown with at least four amethyst pieces on it.

The four 'Heroes' lined up side by side in front of the king. Blue was on the far left, followed by red, then Lance, and finally green on the right.

Lance's eyes shifted from place to place in the room for any hidden threats. Though he turned his attention to the king when he spoke.

"So these are the Four Cardinal Heroes of ancient legend?" He spoke in a questioning voice. The priest that came with them nodded. The king spoke again, "I am the king of Melromarc, Aultcray Melromarc XXXII."

'The country is named after him?' Lance thought, raising an eyebrow.

'I think the country is named after his family line,' Shade said, 'Not him.'

"Heroes," The king spoke once more, "Name yourselves."

Blue raised his sword and put the blade on his left hand, "Amaki Ren, 16 years old, highschooler."

'Isn't that Japanese?' The hunter thought, to which the ghost confirmed.

Red stepped up with a confident smirk, "I'm Kitamura Motoyasu. 21, and a college student."

'Guess I'm next.' Lance thought.

He crossed his arms across his chest, the bow still in his left hand, "Lance Nightshade. Guardian, Hunter class."

The others in the room raised an eyebrow at the strange introduction. He didn't even say his age.

Green stepped up, "And lastly, me. I'm…"

He was interrupted by the king. "I see… Ren, Motoyasu, and Nightshade, huh?"

Lance raised an eyebrow at the interruption, 'Why did he just skip him?'

"Y-yo, king, aren't you forgetting me?" Green exclaimed.

The king looked at him with bored eyes, raising a red flag for Lance and his hunter instincts. "Hmm?" The king hummed, "Oh, forgive me."

The hunter noticed the other nobles look at green in distaste for his addressal of the king.

"My name is Iwatani Naofumi." Green stated, "I'm 20, and a college student."

The king kept his bored look before continuing, "Now… I suppose I owe you an explanation."

"You're ignoring me?" Naofumi stated, but the king continued to ignore him causing even more red flags to be raised in the hunter's mind.

"My country," The king started his explanation, "Melromarc, and the entire world is headed toward destruction."

'Good,' Lance thought, 'Getting straight to the point right off the bat.'

The king explained that there was a prophecy that foretold the arrival of 'Waves' of destruction that will lead to the world's destruction. It is said that these waves will appear in, well, waves. Unless the calamities brought by the Waves are stopped then the world will end.

'Doesn't sound too different from normal.' Shade commented.

The king continued by saying that each country has an ancient dragon hourglass that could predict the arrival of the Waves. The first Wave supposably happened before they were summoned to this world. Local knights and wandering adventurers somehow managed to fend off the Wave, but the following Waves will be more potent in their ability to kill. The sands of the hourglass will continue to trickle until the Waves are stopped with the next Wave in less than a month.

"We underestimated the prophesied Waves." The king said while finishing, "We realized once we actually experienced one that only the Four Cardinal Heroes could counter them. And so, we followed the legend and summoned you four. We have no time to lose!"

'So,' Lance started to summarize, 'He and his kingdom forcibly summoned me and these civilians to fight in these Waves of darkness?'

'Sounds about right.' His ghost confirmed, 'Though what I want to know is what planet are we on? Better yet where in correlation to Earth are we?'

Ren swung his sword down dramatically, "We get the gist of it now. Anyway, surely you didn't summon us expecting to save you for free."

Lance turned in surprise at the statement. 'Payment, that's his first priority?'

One of the nobles by the king's side responded immediately, "Of course, once you repel all the Waves, we shall reward you handsomely."

Motoyasu spoke up in response, "Will you now?" He spoke in a condescending voice, "Well, as long as we have your word."

The hunter turned to him in surprise this time, 'The promise of a reward is all he needs? Just what kind of people are they?'

"We'll work with you provided you don't turn on us." Ren continued, "But don't think for a moment that you can tame us."

"Exactly." Motoyasu pick up, "We can't have you looking down on us now can we?"

"R-right…" Naofumi said to finish off.

'Those two are acting way too high and mighty.' The ghost commented, and the guardian had to agree. 'At least Naofumi seems to be more level headed.'

"Then I trust we have an agreement." The king said, "Then, heroes, you should all check you statuses."

'Statuses?' Lance questioned, 'What does he mean by that?"

Naofumi spoke his mind, "Wait, what's a status?"

Motoyasu also seemed to be confused by this until Ren spoke up, "What's wrong with you guys? It should have been the first thing you noticed in this world." He told them this is an arrogant tone, "Don't you see an icon in the corner of your field of vision?"

Once he said the, Lance looked around his area of vision. Other than the motion tracker in the top right of his vision, the shield meter at the top of his vision, and the ammo counter that read zero in the bottom left of his vision there was nothing. That was when he noticed a small yellow square on the bottom right of his vision. When he focused on it, a new screen popped up.

'Shade,' He thought, 'You seeing this?'

'Yeah.' The ghost responded, 'It's like a sum up screen for your person.'

The screen detailed a lot about himself from his name to race. Below that however was what looked like a video game stat screen. It had a list of attributes including familiar ones like resilience, mobility, recovery, intellect, discipline, and strength. All of those were at an even 60/100, a little above average for an active Guardian.

What confused him was the stats below those. It listed attack, physical defense, magical defence, and dexterity. His attack was at 230(+10), physical defense was at 150(+30), magical defense was at 190(+30), and his dexterity was at 250(+60).

Those were extremely high in terms of how a Guardian's abilities are put into numbers, unless you're talking about the "Light Level" as Guardians called it, and Lance didn't even know what the pluses that were tacked onto the end of the numbers were supposed to mean.

Speaking of Light Level, it was also displayed on the screen. In the top right of the screen there was a spot labeled "Guardian Level" with a 50 next to it. Next to the 50 in brackets was a number labeled "Light Level" and it was at 960. 'At least that makes sense.' Lance thought, 'Those were my classification levels at the Tower.'

Every Guardian at the Tower had two levels to classify themselves as. These levels gave them access to more dangerous missions and patrol areas. Guardian Level was used to describe how skilled they are in battle and in turn the higher the level, the more dangerous the mission they are allowed on. Light Level on the other hand is the combined strength a Guardian's weapons and armor put into a number. As the Light Level gets higher, the strength of their enemies seems to get lower as they do less damage and they take less to kill.

Under the level section of the screen was an inventory like space that showed he had "Otherworldly Armor" on and he was holding what was called "The Legendary Bow".

"Level 1?" Motoyasu started, "That's worrying. There's no telling if we can fight like this."

'So they are just civilians.' Lance thought.

'Or,' Shade spoke, 'They've never fought.'

'Either way, none of them are suited to fight without any training or allies.'

"What's all this anyway?" Naofumi asked the noble next to the king that spoke before.

The noble responded in kind, "Status Magic, an ability exclusive to the heroes."

Ren spoke up to this, "So what are we supposed to do?"

"You must leave on an adventure," The noble responded with a tone of authority, "To develop and upgrade the legendary weapons that you have equipped."

Naofumi looked down at his shield, "They aren't maxed out of the box?" He then looked back up and continued with a more serious tone, "Wait, mine isn't even a weapon."

Motoyasu thrusted his spear forward with a flourish, "Couldn't we just wield other weapons until these are usable?"

'I hate to admit but I agree with him.' The hunter thought while turning the bow, 'I would rather use my guns than this bow.'

Motoyasu continued to spin his spear, only stopping when Ren swung his sword lightly forward and said, "We can figure that out as we go. Anyway, it looks like we ought to train ourselves."

Motoyasu smiled, "Yeah, all while leveling up ourselves as much as we can."

Naofumi smiles and raises his shield up with a closed fist of determination, "Then if the four of us form a party…"

"One moment heroes." The noble interrupted.

All of the heroes turned to him before he continued, "You will each recruit and adventure separately."

Lance stepped up this time, standing tall with an aura of questioning defiance, "And why would that be? Wouldn't it be much more beneficial to team up so we can learn to fight with each other for the upcoming waves?"

The noble merely grinned before saying, "It is said that the legendary weapons repel one another by nature. If you work together, it apparently hinders their development."

As soon as he said it, Lance's hud updated with a new screen labeled 'Help' with 'Page 1 of 9,999' in the bottom right corner. On the page was a block of text.

"When two or more wielders of the legendary weapons operate in the same area together, it will cause an adverse reaction in the weapons shutting off XP gains. Working separately is highly advised."

The heroes were silent for a second before Naofumi spoke up, "He's telling the truth, huh?" He spoke in a somber tone.

The help screen shifted to the right side of the hunter's hud, "It would seem so." He shifted the bow in his hand, still unfamiliar with the grip and uncomfortable with the unfamiliar surroundings.

The king spoke out to the heroes, "The sun is about to set for the evening. Rest up tonight, and set forth tomorrow." He motioned his hand to the side of the room where what seemed like a maid in a yellow dress started to come to the heroes. "In the meantime, we'll gather the best of the best to form your parties."

The women stopped in front of the heroes and addressed them, "We've prepared rooms for you." She bowed and motioned to the throne room door, "Please come this way."


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer - I do not own the Destiny franchise or The Rising of the Shield Hero

**Chapter 2 - A Weapon's Details**

"I guess you get special treatment when you're heroes of legend." Those were the first words out of Motoyasu's mouth when the heroes were alone together.

After a dinner provided by the king and his staff, one that Lance didn't eat, the woman led them to four rooms in the same hall all next to each other. As soon as she left though, the four of them decided to go into Motoyasu's room and talk about what was happening.

The rooms were all the same in design. They were fairly large with tiled floors, a few carpets strewn about. A lavish bed with red curtains was on the side of the room. A few feet away, on a large carpet, was a small table surrounded by two red chairs and a red couch. On the table was a tea set and a bowl of fruit. On the other side of the room across from the bed was a dresser with several mirrors. The wall furthest from the door was a giant window overlooking the city that opened up to a balcony.

Motoyasu was sitting on the bed cross legged and his spear was over his shoulder. Ren was leaning on the dresser with his sword strapped to his back. Naofumi sat on the red couch, shield still strapped to his arm. Lance was next to the door, shifting the bow in his left hand.

Motoyasu leaned forward on his knees while smiling before continuing, "The girl who showed us here was a cutie pie, too."

"And our dinner was pretty good, though it did taste a little odd." Naofumi added to Motoyasu's statement, before putting his hand up to touch something invisible to the rest of the heroes, "Hey," He started to ask, "Isn't this kinda like a game?"

Motoyasu laughed briefly at that before responding, "You mean it _is _one. It's exactly like _Emerald Online_."

Lance raised an unseen eyebrow at that, 'Really?' He thought in surprise, 'Is that true Shade?'

'I-I don't know.' He responded, unsure, 'I've never heard of it.'

Lance didn't have to ask as Naofumi did that for him, "Huh?" He said in a questioning tone, "What's that game?"

Motoyasu looked at him in pure confusion, "Are you serious? It's super famous!"

"You're wrong." Ren stated matter of factly, "It's a VRMMO. It's pretty much the exact same as _Brave Star Online_."

Naofumi looked at the hunter in expectation, but he only shrugged in response.

A clang of metal was heard as Motoyasu banged the end of his spear on the ground, "Let's sort out the information we have." He stood up, "Ren, can we take "VRMMO" literally?"

"Yeah." Was his only response.

He then addressed Lance and Naofumi, "You guys get what that means too right?"

Naofumi was the first to respond after placing his hands behind his head, "I've read about them in LNs, yeah."

Shade, meanwhile, spoke to Lance, 'It means Virtual Reality Mass Multiplayer Online, a type of gaming genre.'

"Yeah," He responded, "I've heard of them."

Motoyasu put his empty hand on his chin, "Just to be sure, let's check our general knowledge." He pointed upwards, "Who's the person on the thousand yen bill?"

'Yen?' The hunter thought confused.

The spear wielder continued, "One, two…" He swung his spear forward.

"Yawara Gotaro." "Yuda Masato." "Noguchi Hideyo." The three of them said at the same time.

They stopped before the air was filled with their voices again, "WHO?!"

It seems that they didn't notice that Lance didn't respond.

They kept spouting questions that the three of them had different answers to.

"What won Buzzword of the year last year?!"

"Your favorite voice actors?"

"Which countries won World War II?"

"Who's the Prime Minister?"

In the end they stood around the table while Lance and Shade tried to figure out what they were talking about.

'What do you have on any of that Shade?' The hunter asked his ghost hopefully.

'... Nothing.'

Lance became worried at the ghost's tone, 'What do you mean nothing?'

The ghost responded a little forcefully with his voice escalating, 'I mean nothing. No records of all of those names, no records of a 'World War II', no need for a Prime Minister since the collapse! There's nothing on any of this! It's like they come from a different world…' He stopped, 'Or…'

'What is it?' Lance asked, picking up that Shade might have something.

He didn't respond for a few seconds, '... ask them what year it is.'

Not having a reason to question his ghost he did, "I have a question to add."

They all turned to look at him expectantly, "What year is it?"

They looked confused before Naofumi responded first, "2019, don't you know?"

The other two looked alarmed with Motoyasu talking first, "What do you mean?! It's 2033 since last month."

"You're both crazy." Ren stated matter of factly, "It's 2059."

They stared at each other in confusion.

'I was right!' Shade practically yelled, almost causing Lance to flinch if it weren't for the fact he was trying to keep the fact that Shade existed a secret. 'We all seem to be from the same world, just different times.'

Lance stepped up to them and away from his space at the door, "Well then, it seems that we have an answer for our confusion."

Naofumi looked at him even more confused, "What do you mean by that?"

Ren answered for him, "We come from the same world, but different points in time." He looked at the hunter, "That's what you mean right?"

Lance nodded.

"Woah!" Motoyasu exclaimed excitedly, "That's so cool!" He turned to Lance, "What year are you from?"

They all looked at him expectantly.

The ghost responded quickly, '5327 if the math is right.'

"5327." The hunter relayed, causing even Ren's jaw to drop.

They were silent until Motoyasu spoke up, "Woah dude, that's incredible!" He started to rant, "What's it like in the future? Are there flying cars? Food in pill form? Pills in food form?" He then smiled, "Are there cute cat girls in the future?"

Lance just stared at him before saying, "Your getting off topic." He turned away from the crestfallen spear wielder and looked at the other two before speaking to the group, "Ren, Motoyasu. You said you've played games that are similar to this world right?"

They both nodded at the question, Motoyasu after regaining his composure.

"Yeah," Said the mentioned spear wielder, "Haven't you?"

Lance just shrugged, "Never had time to look into that kind of stuff."

Naofumi spoke up, "At least I'm not the only one unfimmiliar with this stuff." The other two heroes stared at him enough to make him uncomfortable and ask, "What is it?"

"Well," Motoyasu started, "I thought it was because you were the shield hero."

"It's only natural." Ren added.

Naofumi gained a look of worry, "Wh-What're you talking about? Is there something wrong with the shield?"

"That's a good question." Lance followed up, "What is it about the shield that would make you think that?"

Motoyasu gained what could be called a smug grin, "All right. Big Bro Motoyasu is gonna get you two up to speed on the basics."

He started to walk towards Naofumi, "As far as I know the Shielder, the class that specializes in the shield…" He paused for what seemed like effect, causing Naofumi to speak.

"Yeah?" The shield wielder said urgently.

"... is one for losers." Motoyasu said while getting in Naofumi's face, "No high-level gamers play it."

'Reginald would be offended by that statement.' Shade said in a matter of fact tone.

Lance scoffed internally, 'Are you kidding, that exo wouldn't even flinch.'

Naofumi didn't respond for a second before yelling out, "NOOOO!" He frantically looked between Ren and Lance, "How about in your worlds?"

Ren answered in a sorry voice, "Sorry."

Lance on the other hand gained a thoughtful look, even if the others couldn't see it due to his helmet, "I don't know about the video game aspect, but in actual combat…" He stood straighter and crossed his arms, "... they are some of the most ruthless fighters I've ever seen."

Naofumi looked at him hopefully while the other two looked at him confused, "What do you mean by that?" Motoyasu asked confused.

Lance stepped forward once more, "In my time there was a classification of Titans, a type of Guardian, that were Shielders. We call them Sentinels though. They were the best protectors in our ranks, and the best ones could take down a machine the size of this room in a single hit."

He was talking about a Vex Hydra, but they didn't need to know that.

"If you train hard enough I have no doubts that you can be as strong as one of them." The hunter finished.

They all took in that information before Motoyasu responded, "Wow, I guess the future is more different than I thought." He turned to Ren, "How's the terrain here?"

He thought for a second before replying, "Very similar to what I'm familiar with."

The spear wielder nodded, "Each weapon has its own ideal hunting ground, so let's spread out."

While Ren and Motoyasu started to talk back and forth about the similarities to the games, Naofumi got up and walked out to the balcony. Lance saw him leave but didn't follow.

The hunter listened to the two heroes talk about the similarities they noted until Naofumi yelled out, "ALL right! I'm gonna give it my all!"

They all turned to him, "R-Right." Motoyasu started before standing tall, "We have to set out on adventures tomorrow. Head back to your rooms and get a good night's sleep." He gained a thoughtful look, "Do you think they have baths here?"

"It's quite likely you'll have to go outdoors." Ren stated in response.

"Well either way," Lance started as he opened the door to the room, "Sleep well, you don't want to be caught tired in a fight." With that he exited the room and closed the door.

(Transition)

Lance didn't plan on sleeping. In fact, this was a perfect time to test some things and gather some new information.

'Motoyasu seemed a little too outgoing,' Shade stated to his Guardian while they were walking through the castle, looking for a way outside, 'And Ren seems a little too lone wolfish.'

The hunter scoffed, 'More like he's too arrogant.'

He could feel his ghost shrug(?), 'Either way. Naofumi seemed nice enough though.'

Lance found himself agreeing with his ghost, 'He is, but that won't serve him in a fight.' He soon started scowling, 'Why were civilians dragged into this anyway? They shouldn't have to fight.'

'Well, they're here now.' Shade responded, 'We just need to be ready to offer help when they need it.'

They walked in silence for a few moments before Shade spoke up again, 'If I'm right, the next door on your right should lead outside.'

Trusting his ghost, Lance went to open the said door… only for a voice to sound behind him.

"Um, hello? Sir hero?" The hunter turned to the soft female voice and found a young woman in a dress, most likely a maid of the castle.

"Do you need anything sir hero?" She asked in a slightly worried tone.

Lance responded after a second of thought, "No, I just wanted to get some fresh air. Do you know of somewhere I can go outside?"

She looked a little surprised but responded quickly, "His majesty has requested that the heroes should not leave the castle before their audience for their own safety."

'That's a little strange.' Shade noted, 'I kind of get the reasoning, but still, gating our access to the city as well. Seems like a little much.'

The maid seemed to ponder something before coming to a conclusion, "If it's just some fresh air, then I suppose I can take you to princess Melty's personal garden. Although I urge you from doing something that would damage it. Her highness takes great pride in her garden."

That made scene, the princess would likely have a garden and that fit the Guardian's needs nicely.

"Well then," The hunter said with a slight bow, "Lead the way."

(Transition)

The hunter's eyes explored his new surroundings. The garden was bigger than he thought it would be. At least it was bigger than any garden he had seen in the city.

In the center of the garden was a large tree full of life surrounded by a bed of multicolored flowers. The same kind of flowers, a type Lance didn't recognize, bordered the stone brick trails winding through the garden. What seem to be rose bushes were the main display. In front of the center tree there was metal bench, the sides of it made to look like flowing water.

Lance walked up to the tree and, with one final check of his surroundings, stuck out his left hand, palm up.

Not a second later the harpy shaped Ghost known as Shade appeared in his hand, causing said hand to be lowered.

"Ah," Shade sighed while spinning around, "It's good to stretch my rotators again."

The hunter pulled the so called Legendary Bow off of his back, "Now that we have time," He started, putting the bow on the bench, "I want you to scan this, try to find out why it's so special."

"On it." The ghost responded with a bob before floating over to the bow. When he stopped in front of it, a beam of light shot out of his reticle and connected to the bow. The light moved over the bow, taking in every detail of it.

Lance on the other hand reopened his status screen, or to be more specific, the help menu after sitting down on the bench.

9,999 pages of information that the bow apparently saw important enough to lay out for him to read. Too much in his opinion but hey, the more information the better.

He kept skimming through the pages, only stopping when he saw something interesting on the screen. Things like:

"The legendary weapons translate all speech heard by their wielders into a language the wielder can understand."

"Materials infused into the legendary weapons give the legendary weapons forms and abilities relating to the material infused. Materials can include metals, plants, monster drops, and magic items."

"The legendary weapons can copy other weapons of the same type. Copied weapons will be exactly or very close to the same in ability, power, and feel. When a weapon is copied it is not destroyed."

That last one was the most interesting to him.

"And done." Shade spoke, moving in front of Lance who flicked away the help screen, "There are a lot of interesting things here. The most interesting though has to be it's classification."

The hunter raised an eyebrow at that, "What do you mean by that? What's so special about it's classification?"

"Well, it can be classified as a relic." The ghost stated.

Lance tilted his head slightly in confusion, "A relic? What kind of classification is that?"

"It's a very, very rare weapon type made purely of exotic material and most of the time it has a core of what could be called divine material. Something like a shard of the Traveler." The ghost gained what could be called a thoughtful look, "The best example I can think of would be a swordbearer's sword."

"So it's not likely that there would be four different ones in one place is what your saying." The hunter said in understanding tone.

"Exactly!" The ghost exclaimed, "But if it is a relic, that raises another point about the weapon. Most relics start to decay when they perform attacks and, more importantly, come into contact with Guardian energies, but that isn't happening. In a way it's the opposite, linking with your Light instead of pushing it away."

Lance picked up the bow and spun it in his hand, "So it's an anomaly to what we know." He stopped spinning the bow, "Did you figure out if it's affecting my Light in anyway?"

"Yes, actually." He replied, "It's not affecting it in any negative way, but it does seem to be heightening your Light. Just a little bit though, nothing you would notice in combat. To be fair, I don't know exactly know what it affected."

The hunter hummed in response before stating and idea, "What about magic? When I was looking through the help screens I noticed several mentions of magical items, which seems to imply that magic exists. In this world at least." He shrugged, "Maybe the bump in Light means that I can use magic now."

The ghost seemed to think for a moment, "I… wouldn't know where to start with that information. Maybe we should go see a magic user in the morning?"

Lance nodded, "Sounds like a plan." He paused, "On that note, I would like to try something."

He stood up, his ghost moving out of the way but still facing him, "Do you still have that bow we found at the Gofannon forge?"

"Let me check." The ghost replied. A second later he spoke again, "Yup, still have it. Do you want me to bring it out?"

"Yeah." In a flash of light a new bow appeared in his right hand, his left currently having the Legendary Bow in it.

This new bow was a masterpiece. It's top and bottom limbs were a light gray ending with black that held the idler wheel and cam, the pulleys of the bow. A carbon fiber string ran through these pulleys and connected with two other pulleys on the main frame. The main frame was black with red and gold plates. On top of the center pulleys were dark grey, circle plates with golden butterflies on them.

The grip was made of a black plastic. Above it was a light grey arrow rest. Above this was a small holographic sight window. Under the grip was a stabilizer about 9in long, light and dark grey in color.

If someone pulled back the bow string, a light grey arrow would appear. The arrow had an even lighter grey felching ending with a dark grey nock. The arrowhead was dark grey and very sharp, but that wasn't what stood out about it. Connected to the arrowhead was a glowing purple canister filled with poison.

This was Le Monarque. It may not be a butterfly, but it was just as beautiful.

As soon the bow appeared in Lance's hand, a new screen popped up in front of him.

[Would you like to copy this weapon: Le Monarque?]

[YES] [NO]

Lance smiled before tapping yes. The Legendary Bow flashed with a bright light for a few seconds before dying down, revealing that the Legendary Bow now looked exactly like the Le Monarque. New information appeared in his vision.

[Le Monarque - Exotic - Equipment Bonus: +50 Poison Resistance, +40 Attack, +70 Poison Damage, +20 Ready Speed - Arrow Type: Pestilence Arrows - Special Ability: Incurable Shot]

"How…" The ghost started confused, "Did you know that would work?"

The hunter placed the Legendary Bow onto his back, after converting it back into its original form, while forcing the real Le Monarque into his ghost's storage, "I read about the copy ability in the help menu." He shrugged, "Seemed like a good thing to try out."

Shade was silent for a second before saying, "I'll need to read through that then, see if there is anything else we could use." He then floated over to Lance, bobbing in the air. "What's listed on there anyway? Pestilence Arrows? Incurable Shot?"

As soon as the ghost said it, two pop ups appeared in Lance's hud.

[Pestilence Arrows: All arrows shot from Le Monarque will contain a poison vial that will shatter upon impact, spreading the poison in a small cloud. Poison will be more deadly if it is injected or swallowed.]

[Incurable Shot: Requires Light Level 800 - After activated, the next arrow shot will contain a hyper deadly poison with no cure. Can only be activated once every month, unused arrows are stored]

"Hm…" The ghost hummed, "So, the Pestilence Arrow is still the same as we know it, and that Incurable Shot seems really useful."

Lance sat back down on the bench, leaning back. The Guardian and ghost stayed in silence for a minute before Shade spoke, "It's been one hell of a day, huh. First we get call in on our one day off. Then we get ambushed in the Vault of Glass while recovering that ghost only to get brought to this new world."

The Guardian turned to his ghost, "I've been meaning to ask about that." He opened the pouch on his belt and pulled out the deactivated ghost, "Can you turn on this ghost now?"

Shade floated over to the still ghost, "I can, but I would rather not risk it. This world is still unfamiliar. I don't want that ghost to be lost, or worse captured by an unseen hand." He looked back up at Lance, "It would be best to wait until we find someone who can wield the Traveler's Light."

Lance nodded in understanding, "Then we should make that one of our main priorities."

"Agreed." Was the response.

There was another lapse of silence before the hunter sighed and muttered, "I know getting fresh air was just a lie I told to get out here, but…"

His hand went to the base of his helmet were he found two clasps, one on either side, and unlocked them. They hissed, releasing the air lock and making the helmet go loose.

Just before he pulled the helmet of though, a flash of red appeared on the edge of his motion radar.

In less than a second his helmet was relocked, Shade disappeared, Kindled Orchid was in his right hand, and he was pointing the hand cannon in the direction of the motion flash. It didn't stay like that for long though as lightning sparked from his right hand, causing a massive jolt of pain.

The Kindled Orchid went flying into the bed of flowers at the base of the tree, damaging one or two of them. Lance, meanwhile, fell to the ground grasping his right hand.

'Guardian!' The ghost cried in his head.

"I'm fine." He replied verbally while standing back up. He checked the motion radar. Nothing.

"What was that about?" He asked, only for the bow to answer him.

[Legendary Weapon Rule Violation: Holding Non-Assigned Weapon]

'... What?' Shade asked confused.

Seemingly to help with the confusion, a new page of the help screen popped up.

"The wielders of the legendary weapons cannot hold or use non-assigned weapons. Failure to meet this rule will be met with sharp pain and weapon rejection."

"So," Lance started, "That means I can only use bows to fight? That's bullshit."

'It seems like I need to go through the help pages more than I thought.' The ghost said.

The hunter stood up and flexed his still, aching hand, "Yeah, get on that." He turned and looked at his hand cannon on the ground, "Don't forget Kindled Orchid though."

'Oh,' Shade said, distracted by the help screen, 'Of course.' The hand cannon disappeared in a flash of light. Not a second later, the door to the castle opened.

Lance turned to find the same woman who led him here, "Sir hero? Are you alright?"

"Yeah," He replied smoothly, "I was just about to head back inside. Can you bring me back to my room?"

She nodded quickly, "Of course, sir hero. Follow me."

**(Chapter End)**

**Hello readers far and wide, and welcome to the story.**

**I wanted to thank you for the follows, favorites, and reviews. They make your boy happy.**

**For the story, I plan on updating every other Monday(even if it is a day late right now), so chapter 3 will be posted on January 27. **

**I hope all of you wonderful people have a wonderful day.**


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer - I do not own the Destiny franchise or The Rising of the Shield Hero

Before this chapter starts, I just wanted to add what the ranking of weapon tiers that I will be using in the story.

Weakest - Common, Uncommon, Rare, Legendary, Exotic, Mythic, Relic - Strongest

The first four are pretty normal. Exotics are one of a kind weapons with a very strong and unique perk. Mythics are one of a type weapons (one mythic bow, one mythic shield, one mythic sword, one mythic spear, and so on) with super powerful bonuses. Relics are super legendary weapons that can only be wielded by a few, all of the heroes legendary weapons and vassal weapons fall under this category with a few others.

With that, enjoy the chapter.

**Chapter 3 - Solo Play**

The rest of the night was uneventful for Lance and his ghost. The ghost was occupied by the help screens, noting anything interesting as he read, while the hunter kept an eye out for anymore eavesdroppers like in the garden. He didn't get any sleep that night.

Not like he needed it.

A maid came by in the morning to collect him and the other heroes for breakfast in the large dining room. Like the dinner the night before, the meal had too much food for them. It was more fit for a large family. Luckily for the food though, the heroes weren't alone.

Others were in the room, a mix of what looked like adventurers and nobles conjugated in the room. None of them came up to Lance or the other heroes. A fact that suited Lance just fine.

'It seems like the king wasn't lying when he said he would bring in adventurers for us to partner with.' Shade said after seeing the so called adventurers.

'Yeah, but…' Lance observed one of the bigger knights trip over themselves, 'They don't seem like the "Best of the Best" to me.'

'Well maybe they're more professional in a battle.' The ghost replied in a strained voice after seeing the exact same thing.

A hand was waved in front of his face, "Hey, Earth to Lance. You there man?"

The hunter turned to the owner of the hand, Motoyasu, "Yeah, sorry." Lance apologized, "I was just thinking."

The spear holder smiled a knowing smile, "Yeah, I bet you were thinking about the cute girls over there." He leaned back with a smile, "I hope I get a party full of cute girls like them. That would be awesome!"

Lance stared at him for a second, "You have no shame do you?" He asked him, echoing his ghost.

A surprised looked covered Motoyasu's face, "Hey, what is that supposed to mean?"

Next to them Naofumi let out a chuckle while Ren put on a little smile at the little transaction.

Motoyasu quickly regained his composure and tried to change the subject, "Hey Lance, why don't you take off your helmet and eat something?"

"Yeah, now that I think about it," Naofumi followed, pointing his fork at Lance, "You haven't taken off that thing since you got here, have you?"

"You know, you're right." Motoyasu continued with a teasing smile, "You got some scars or something?" His eyes then lit up in excitement, "Oh, maybe you're an alien and you want to stay hidden in our human society." He ended with a laugh.

Lance thought for a second before responding, "Nothing like that, I'm just used to wearing it for protection while fulfilling my duties as a Guardian."

Ren piped up, "You've said that title before, Guardian, but what does it mean?"

"I've been wondering about that as well." Naofumi said, putting his eating utensils down.

"So what about it? You going to tell us or what?" Motoyasu added.

Again, Lance paused for a second to think before answering, "In simple terms, a Guardian is a protector of the people. A lot like being a hero here in fact."

"Ah," The spear wielder said, "So that's why you're so composed all of the time." He leaned in to Lance, "So, what was your party like? I mean, you must have had one."

The hunter gained a thoughtful look, putting his hand on his armored chin, "I never really had a party. Once in a while I formed a fireteam with a scholar and a shielder, but we mostly traveled separately."

Naofumi perked up at the mention of the shielder but didn't comment on it as Lance continued, "That reminds me actually, I need to speak with the king."

He stood up from his seat and moved towards the door, ignoring Motoyasu's question of, "Why do you need to talk to him?"

As he got to the door though, Lance spotted a figure that gave him a feeling of deja vu. Through the crowd he spotted a woman with dark red hair, hair that reached her shoulders. It seemed too familiar to him for some reason.

There was no time to think on that though, he needed to talk to the king about his partnership details.

**(Corridor to Throne Room - A Few Minutes Later)**

'Why are you going to talk to the king about this?' Shade asked confused, 'I thought we just weren't going to choose anyone to party with.'

During the night before, Lance and his ghost ultimately decided that traveling alone would be better for the both of them. It would provide the hunter more freedom and keep the chances of Shade being discovered to an all time low.

'While that was the plan,' Lance thought to his ghost, still too paranoid about someone listening from the night before to speak to his ghost out loud, 'I noticed that the adventurers were focusing on us just as much as I focused on them. I think that they may be the ones choosing the partnerships.'

'That could just be a coincidence for all you know.' The ghost tried to argue.

'Still,' The Guardian followed, 'It would be better for the king to know beforehand so he doesn't try to force people on us.'

The ghost sighed, 'Whatever you say.'

They walked for a few more minutes in silence before coming up to the door of the throne room. Just as he was about to knock and enter though, he heard the voices of the king and one of his advisers in the middle of a conversation.

"... and what of the adventures that came to party with him?" The king's voice rang, no matter how silent he was trying to be.

"They have been put in the dungeon and are currently being… taken care of." The adviser's voice responded, "There is no need to worry my king."

"Good, it's all going according to plan then." The king stated with what could be called appreciation, but it was more like satisfaction, "Gather the heroes from the dining hall, it is time they started their journeys." He finished with a tone of authority.

"Right away my king." The adviser said before footsteps could be heard coming to the door.

Moving before his ghost could tell him, Lance retreated to a short distance away from the door to make it look like he wasn't eavesdropping.

'What was that about?' Shade asked in a worried tone.

'I don't know,' The hunter replied, 'but it didn't sound good.'

They didn't have time to discuss it further though as the throne room door opened, causing Lance to walk towards it as if he never stopped. Out of the door came the same noble they had seen the day before at the king's side, said noble stopped once he saw the hunter.

"Ah, sir hero," He noble spoke with an eerie smile, "I was just about to get you and the other heroes. The king would like to start his audience with you."

Lance nodded, "I was just about to talk to the king myself. Is he in there by any chance?" He finished the statement by pointing at the throne room door.

The noble looked surprised for a fraction of a second before speaking again with the same smile, "Yes, he is. Don't let me hold you sir hero." The noble walked away after that, prompting the hunter to enter the throne room. The doors closed behind him.

The king looked at him in surprise as the hunter walked up to him, "Sir Nightshade, what an unexpected surprise. I just sent one of my advisers to get you and the other heroes."

"Yeah, I saw him walk out." Lance started, "I wanted to speak to you about an important matter though." He stopped in front of the king, where he and the other heroes were the day before.

"Oh, what would that be Sir Nightshade?" The king asked curiously.

"It's about the parties you want us to form," The hunter started, "I would like to go alone."

The king looked shocked, his mouth slightly agape. He quickly regained his composure, coughing into his hand, "Why would you want that Sir Nightshade? Surely you know how dangerous it will be out there alone?" He said this in a tone of worry and suspicion.

Lance spoke in response, "Of course I know it will be dangerous your majesty, but I have always traveled alone in my old world and I assure you that it will not be much of a problem for me."

The king gained a look of confusion at the mention of his old world, "What did you do in your old world that would make you think that?"

"I am a Guardian." Lance stated like a fact, "I traveled into the wilds everyday to kill the monsters that threatened me and my people." He motioned at himself, "It is why I wear this armor, it gives me the protection needed for that job."

"Even with that," The king started to reason, "Why would you want to forgo any help that a party could give you? It would be more beneficial for you to have others to help you in this world."

"I'm not denying that your majesty," The hunter stated calmly, "But I have been trained to travel alone and simply put, having others with me could make fighting the way I learned harder."

The king seemed to think for a second before finding it better to relent to the hero, "Fine, I will let you travel alone Sir Nightshade," Lance was getting annoyed at that nickname, "But if it turns out you do need help, come back to me and I will gather it for you."

The hunter bowed his head, "Thank you, your majesty."

The conversation seemed to end at the right time as the door to the throne room reopened allowing a group of adventures in followed by the other three heroes. The adventures lined up in front of the king and faced the heroes while the other heroes stepped into line next to Lance.

The hunter only nodded to the other heroes as they looked at him. Motoyasu started to ask him something in a whisper, "Yo dude, what did yo-"

"Heroes! I hope you have rested well, for today is the start of your journey." The king started his grand speech, "I have gathered the best adventurers and fighters from across Melromarc and gathered them here today to accompany you on your journeys."

As he said this, the king motioned his hand at the line of people in front of him. They were a mix of robed and armored men and women. Some of them looked at Lance with what excitement and determination. Maybe they wanted to partner with him, maybe they just like the bow hero, or maybe it was both.

If it was, they were about to be dissapointed.

"Earlier today though," The king continued, "Sir Nightshade came to me and informed me that he decided to travel alone and I shall respect that decision."

The few adventures looking at Lance had their excited looks changed to crestfallen looks. 'Huh,' The hunter thought, 'They did want to party with me. Sorry.'

Motoyasu on the other hand looked at Lance like he was crazy, but wasn't able to say anything as the king continued.

"Now then adventures," The king stated, coming to the end of his statement, "Stand by your chosen hero!"

'You were right,' Shade stated, viewing the events, 'The adventures are choosing who they go with.'

As the ghost stated, the line of adventures stepped up to the heroes and stood behind them. Something was off though.

"Hey king!" Naofumi shouted after looking behind him, and he was right to do so. None of the adventures were behind him.

Out of all of the adventures that gathered here, ten if Lance's count was right, none of them went to Naofumi. It was suspicious to the hunter, even more suspicious if he considered what he had overheard from the king and his advisor.

'I feel like we need to investigate these… dungeons after this audience.' The Guardian said to his ghost, not sure what the dungeons are supposed to be used for in this world.

The only dungeons he knew were filled with hive or taken.

'Agreed.' Was all the ghost said in reply.

The nobles on the second floor balcony, who came in a minute or two after the other heroes, started to whisper among themselves.

"I have to admit," The king started in a tone Lance could tell was fake surprise, "This was something I was not expecting."

The hunter nearly snorted, 'I call bullshit on that.'

A noble from the side of the room came up to the king and whispered something to the king. Motoyasu saw this and spoke up, curious, "Did something happen?"

A frown appeared on the king's face, one that looked a little forced in Lance's opinion. It was like he was trying not to smile. "Hmm, it appears that rumors have spread around town, rumors that the Shield Hero is ignorant about most things in this world."

The implications of that statement made Lance go still. If that information was out, that meant someone was spying on the heroes' conversation the night before.

'How did they get past the motion tracker?' The hunter worriedly asked his ghost, 'Even if they used stealth tec it would have still picked them up.'

'I… don't know.' The ghost replied before he sighed(?) in frustration, 'Why is this world full of so many questions and next to no answers?'

'I bet,' Lance stated, 'That we have more access to answers if it weren't for the king.' He narrowed his eyes at the king, 'He's planning something, no, he is acting out his plan. What is it though? What purpose does he have for treating the Shield Hero poorly like this?'

Naofumi brought him out from his thoughts, "What does that even mean?" Confusion was in his voice as he said it.

"Legend says that the Heroes are always summoned with deep knowledge about this world," The King explained, with tone, and posture equal to someone commenting on the weather, "And apparently everyone seems to think that this is knowledge the Shield Hero doesn't possess."

"How did the rumors start then?" Lance asked, putting that question into everyone's minds as they looked at him, "If the legend truly says that the heroes are to be summoned with a deep knowledge of this world, what would prompt such a rumor?"

Motoyasu seemed to think for a second before saying, "Maybe someone heard our chat last night."

"If that's true, then that holds several implications. The most prominent though is why aren't the rumors also about me?" The hunter questioned again.

This time, the look of confusion on the king's face was real, "What do you mean by that Sir Nightshade?"

Lance made sure to face him head on before saying, "What I mean is, I know just as much as this world as Naofumi here. I'm not afraid to admit that." Nobles around the room gasped at the statement, finding it hard to believe.

"T-then why would you want to go alone?" The king said confused, surprised, and a little panicked.

The hunter's cloak seemed to billow in the non-existent wind, "As I said before, I am a Guardian. Hunter class. I am trained to fight in any condition, in any terrain, and against any foe. All while alone."

The king looked flustered before regaining his composure and speaking again, "Yes, well, even if you can go alone, the Shield Hero is not trained like you. He will need a companion." The king looked over the adventures, "Will any of you be willing to party with the Shield Hero?"

Most just stood around awkwardly at his question. People on the sidelines of the balcony seemed to mutter more quietly, as if getting heard would lead to them being picked. The new companions of the heroes seemed even more nervous, sticking close to their chosen hero.

All except for one.

"I'll partner with the Shield Hero!" One of the women behind Motoyasu said before stepping into view.

When Lance saw her he regained his sense of deja vu. She had red hair tied into a ponytail, but it was still straight and nice. Her eyes were a bright green. She wore a simple set of leather and hide gear that, while trying to appear simple, was obviously custom made and fit. A simple iron sword was at her side, but it was polished and clean. Too clean for an experienced adventurer. In fact, it looked like it just came out of the shop.

That is when the hunter recognized her. While the clothing was obviously different from before, the hair was the same. He was positive that this was the same noble woman he saw spying on them the first day.

What was she doing here though?

"You sure?" Motoyasu asked, sounding slightly jealous.

"Yes!" She looked all to happy with that answer, her already present smile widening even more.

"Is there any one else who wants to join the Shield Hero's party?" Aultcray questioned only for nobody move, making the king sigh before he continued.

"It can't be helped, you will have to recruit more for yourself. In compensation, your payment will be higher than the rest of the heroes, the same goes for Sir Nightshade."

Lance raised his unseen eyebrow, 'Payment? Already?'

'They probably just want to keep you and the rest of the heroes invested.' The ghost replied.

"Every month we will provide the heroes with war funds to help you in your task, and here they are." Four servants came forward with bags in their hands, each bag deposited into the heroes hands.

Lance weighted the pouch in his hand with curiosity before slipping the slightly heavy bag into the largest compartment on his belt. Shade didn't waste a second, flashing the bag into his inventory space.

'Hmm,' The ghost started after observing the coins, 'One thousand pure silver coins. These would be worth a lot in the city. Well, to Tess at least.'

"Sir Naofumi will receive eight hundred silver coins," The king continued, "And Sir Nightshade will have access to one thousand silver coins since he will be leaving alone. Sir Ren and Sir Motoyasu will be given with six hundred each. Use these funds on equipment, and other necessities, and set out in your journey!" Aultcray declared, finishing his speech.

**(Castle Corridors - One Hour After Audience)**

After the heroes and their companions left the castle, it wasn't that hard for Lance to get back inside without being noticed.

What was difficult though, was finding the so called dungeons.

'Just what would it even look like?' Lance asked himself as he sneaked around the castle, dodging guards and maids with his motion tracker.

'Maybe I can take a look?' The ghost said anyway.

The Guardian stopped and thought for a second before sighing, 'Find, scan the surroundings and tell me if you find anything.'

On last check of his surroundings, making sure the coast was clear, prompted Shade to appear in a flash of light. The harpy shaped ghost floated around for a second before expanding, spreading his 'wings' and emitting a blue light around his eye. A visible pulse of light was seen coming out of the ghost, the light scanning the corridor and making a map, before the ghost collapsed again and moving forward with Lance following.

The ghost did this at least five more times before stopping abruptly, focusing on one spot on the floor, "Here's something." The ghost said as he floated to a spot on the floor, "It… seems to be blood, a trail of it."

The Guardian nodded, "Follow it then, it's probably the best clue we'll get without a proper castle layout." As he said it, Shade started to follow the trail through the castle corridors, only stopping when they had to dodge a knight or a maid.

After a few minutes, they came to a familiar point in the castle. More specifically, they were in the corridor with the heroes rooms. They didn't stop though.

They went further until they finally reached the door where the trail led. It looked simple enough, made of sturdy wood with an iron door handle. In fact, Lance remembered it from the night before. Only, he and his ghost thought it led outside.

That didn't stop him though. He opened the door and entered the room, softly closing the door behind him. Except, it wasn't as much of a room as it was a stairwell. A stairwell that spiraled down to the sublevels of the castle. Shade disappeared in a flash of light as the hunter crept slowly down the staircase, silent as a shadow.

At the bottom of the stairwell, a hallway stretched ahead before turning to the left. On either side of the hallway there were iron barred cells, six of them total. They were all open, the only things in them being chains on the back walls. The ground had a few small puddles of water, though the smell told Lance it wasn't all water.

'There's no one here.' Shade said as the hunter walked from cell to cell, observing the insides of them for potential evidence, 'Do you think we're in the wrong place?'

The hunter stopped at the last cell on the left before the turn and crouched to the floor, putting his right index finger on the ground before looking at it, "No, we're in the right place." His finger came up covered in a dark red, "This blood is still fresh, spilled maybe 30min ago."

In the normal flash of light, Shade came into view and scanned the blood, "Your right, this is a lot fresher than what we tracked to get here. This is weird though…"

The hunter stood up, "What is?"

"Well…" The ghost started, "It's human, but not at the same time."

The hunter tilted his head slightly, "What is that supposed to mean?"

"First I should say that the blood here is mixed, four different people from my scan, so it may not be accurate." The ghost was bobbing left and right during his dialogue. "But each sample seems to be a natural mix of human and animal blood."

Lance put his gloved hand on his chin, "When you say natural, you mean they would have been born with it?"

The ghost nodded(?) in confirmation, "As far as I can tell."

The hunter hummed before looking back down at the blood, his eyes following a fresher blood trail leading from it, "Would you say that the owners of this blood are still alive?"

"I can't be sure." The ghost replied, "We need to keep following the trail to be sure." And so the hunter did, sneaking as he did.

The trail led Lance and his ghost, who hid behind the hunter, around the corner and down a musty and dark hallway. Near the ceiling of the hallway there were grate like windows that let sunlight in, illuminating parts of the hallway. This hallway wasn't that long though, and at the end of it was another door.

The hunter and ghost, after checking the motion radar for movement beyond the door, opened the door and went through. What they found on the other side made them stop cold.

There were bodies, four of them, thrown on the floor haphazardly and left to rot. Two of them were female, the other two being male. This was easy to tell because all of them were stripped of everything, including their clothes.

The most noticeable thing about them, other than the fact that all of their throats were slashed, was that they all had some kind of animal trait. One of the men had fox ears and a tail, the other man and one of the women had dog ears and a tail, and the last woman had cat ears and a tail.

"... so that's why there was animal blood mixed in." Shade said, breaking the silence.

**(Chapter End)**

**Chapter 4 - False Accusations - February 10**


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer - I do not own the Destiny franchise or The Rising of the Shield Hero

I've had some comments about what armor and shader Lance has and I'm here to tell you. The armor he is wearing is the Phenotype Plasticity armor(ornaments) from Destiny 2 with a Superblack shader(except its darker).

**Chapter 4 - False Accusations **

"... so that's why there was animal blood mixed in." Shade said, breaking the silence.

"We should move them," Lance responded, "Give them a better place to rest. This is no way for the dead to lie."

The ghost floated nervously, "While I agree with you, I don't think we can do that." The hunter looked at Shade, making him continue, "If we move the bodies, people will notice. It's too risky."

"Yeah, but we can't just…"

The hunter started to retort before a voice was heard down the hall outside the door, "... have to be the ones to take out this trash? Can't we have the rookies do it?"

Another voice responded, "Apparently the rookies aren't allowed to know. It's the general's orders, so we have to follow them."

Shade disappeared when the voices were heard and Lance flattened himself against the wall, watching the tracker. The edge lit up.

"Fine." The first voice grumbled, "Let's get this over with." The voice was silent for a second before asking, "Hey, do you know why these demis were killed in the first place?"

The second voice waited for a second before responding, "I don't know. You don't see many around here, and most are slaves. Maybe they use to be the slaves of a noble who lost interest in them."

The tracker lit up a brighter red closer to the center, "Maybe, but I heard a rumor that they wanted to party with the Shield Hero."

"Then good riddance." The other voice scoffed, "I can't wait for tomorrow, the Shield Hero will get what he deserves."

'"Get what he deserves"?' Shade repeated questionly, 'Naofumi hasn't even done anything in this world yet.'

'Are you recording this?' Lance asked his ghost.

'Of course.' The ghost responded, sounding insulted, 'I record everything that happens around you.'

The center of the hunter's radar turned red, making Lance take a smoke bomb and throw it at the ground. His body turned translucent in the smoke. Said smoke disappear completely a second later, just as the door opened.

Two knights walked in, neither of them had unique marks on their armor or visible person. The hunter didn't stay to check them any further though. He slipped out, invisible to the world, and made his escape.

**(The Streets of Melromarc - A Few Minutes Later)**

Lance and his ghost were walking the streets, his exterior showing no signs of what had happened a few minutes earlier. On the inside though…

'They're after Naofumi, I'm sure of it.' The hunter stated to his ghost.

'And I'm not disagreeing with you.' His ghost returned, 'The question is why? And what are they planning for tomorrow.'

'Whatever it is, I need to at least warn Naofumi.' He paused for a second before asking his ghost, 'Do you have a way to track him by chance?'

Shade thought for a second before saying, 'No, but if I could get close to him I can scan and mark the energy signature of his shield. We would be able to find him then.'

'Sounds good.' The Guardian replied, 'For now though we need to track him down, preferably before tomorrow.'

'We need to learn more about our surroundings.' The ghost started, 'See if you can get information about places in the city that may prove useful.'

Lance looked at his surroundings. He was in a semi-busy street, most likely residential looking at the nearby buildings. A few guards could be seen on patrol, though one was leaning on a building. He looked uninterested, bored with his placement.

The perfect person to answer his questions.

The hunter walked up to the guard, the guard not noticing him until he was ten feet away. The guard stood off the wall and eyed the hunter suspiciously, that was until he noticed the weapon on the hunter's back.

The guard stood a little straighter, looking nervous at being caught slacking on the job. By one of the heroes no less.

Lance stopped in front of him, arms crossed behind his back, "Are you free to talk by any chance?" He asked the guard in a polite tone.

The guard replied shakely, "Of course, Sir Hero. What do you need?"

The hunter smiled and unseen smile, "Good, that's what I was hoping to hear. I wanted to ask you a few things…"

**(A Few Minutes Later)**

The guard had been useful in giving him and, unknowingly, his ghost some information. He now had the locations of some key places he wanted to see, though sadly he didn't know where Naofumi might be. At least, that's what the guard said.

Either way, Lance was at his first destination and the most important one, according to Shade.

A magic shop.

It certainly stood out, at least to Lance and his ghost. It stood out because of the way it looked, that being it looked different to the buildings surrounding it.

It was a greenish blue wooden building, not all of it greenish blue. There was a single window on the upper floor with a small flower box hanging from it. The roof formed four points and had a jagged lightning rod sticking out of it along with a brick chimney. Above the front door there was a sign, but what it said was a mystery for both Lance and his ghost. Next to the sign was a red flag.

Even without the look of the building, the hunter would have still stopped. The area in front of the shop felt… different. Like it was filled with a type of energy.

'This is definitely the place.' Shade stated, 'Exotic energies are just spilling out of this place.'

'Well then,' Lance responded, 'Let's not waste any time.'

The hunter moved forward to open the door only for someone else to open it, coming out of the building.

It was a girl, no older than ten and stood to his waist. She had unnaturally bright orange hair and, from what he could see, orange-red eyes. Almost the color of fire. A simple dark orange dress adorned her body and simple leather shoes were on her feet. The interesting part about her though was the orange fox ears with black tips that rested on top of her head. That along with the matching orange and black tipped fox tail.

If she noticed the hunter, she didn't show it and instead skipped past him and down the street. Not letting the door close, Lance stepped through and into the shop.

It looked simple enough. The walls were colored the same greenish-blue as the walls outside but the floor remained the color of the wood it was made of and there was a staircase leading up to the second floor. Thin ropes with small herbs hung from the ceiling. Cabinets covered in odd trinkets ranging from scales to a cauldron filled the room. In the center of the room was a desk with a few papers, a book, a small display stand, and a weird looking globe. There was also what looked like a crystal ball on the table.

Behind the table however, there was a woman. She appeared old, though not terribly old, only around 40-45. Her brown hair was cut short, just reaching her shoulders. Her purple eyes seemed to match the earrings she wore, those having a ring of gold on them. Simple looking purple robes are what she wore, even if the cuffs of her sleeves were gold in color. Over this, mainly around her neck, was a small purple cape. On her head was a purple witch's hat that reminded Lance of something he once saw in a children's book.

She spoke up when she saw Lance, "Welcome, Sir Hero. Take a look around and tell me if you need anything."

The hunter eyed her warily, "How do you know I'm one of the heroes? News doesn't travel that fast, does it?"

The witch chuckled, "No, no. News about who the heroes are haven't quite traveled this far yet. I just guessed based on your armor and the bow. They are quite unique."

He looked himself over, "I guess I do stand out." He mumbled before going up to her and got straight to the point, "I did actually want to ask you something. Is there a way for you to detect if I can use magic?"

She smiled, "Yes, there is in fact a way. Just stand still and I'll tell you your magic affinities." Lance did as asked and the witch put her hand on her crystal ball.

The ball glowed faintly, not quite casting a light but still noticeable.

'The ball is doing an energy scan of you.' The ghost alerted.

'Can you tell if it's doing anything else?' The hunter replied.

The ghost was silent for a second before saying, 'Nothing I can detect, but it seems safe enough.'

"Hmm," The witch started, "It seems like you have two affinites. Not terribly uncommon, but… oh my…"

Lance found himself leaning forward, "What is it? Is something wrong?"

She shook her head, "Oh no, nothing like that. It's your affinites. You have affinities for Holy and Null magic."

'Holy and Null magics huh,' Shade restated, 'I have an idea about what they are, but you might as well ask.'

"What's special about Holy and Null magic?" The hunter stated for his ghost.

"Well," the witch started, "Holy magic itself isn't bad, it's one of the rarest magic types and it's considered, well, holy. In fact, it is required to become the Pope. All it really is though is a stronger type of light magic."

Lance nodded at that, "So what you're saying is that Holy magic is glorified light magic?"

The woman chuckled, "Yeah, I guess it is."

"What about Null magic though?" The hunter asked, causing the witch to frown.

"Null magic is… well it's frankly useless." She stated bluntly, this time causing the hunter to frown.

"Why would it be useless? What does it do?" He asked.

"Null magic isn't so much as useless as it is unknown." The witch answered, "It is extremely rare, rarer than Holy magic, but no one has found or created a spell that works for it." She then smiled at Lance, changing the conversation, "I'll go ahead and grab you a magical grimoire so you can train your Holy magic." With that, she went to a nearby shelf to look for said book.

Only to stop and go back to the desk, picking up the book that was on it, "I had almost forgotten. Another person who came in today also had an affinity to holy magic, so I pulled out a grimoire for them. They couldn't afford it though."

That interested the hunter, but he didn't go into it as the witch slid the old book over to him.

"How much do I owe you for it then?" Lance asked, not wanting to use all of his money for something that might or might not help.

"It will cost 250 silvers, or 2 gold and 50 silver." The witch said, inadvertently giving the hunter new and important information on how the money system worked.

'So it's 100 silvers to 1 gold and I assume 1 silver makes 100 of something else.' The ghost summarized, 'Copper maybe?'

Either way, the ghost put 250 silvers exactly into Lance's largest belt pouch. He pulled out the money, handing it to the woman and picking up the book.

"Thank you." The hunter said, nodding his head before exiting the shop and stepping back on to the street.

'You know,' Shade started, 'I don't actually think Null magic is useless. They might just be doing it wrong.'

Lance raised an eyebrow, 'What do you mean by that?'

'Well, think about it. Null means equal to zero, or nothing. If you apply that in this sense, that would mean Null magic is the magic of nothing.'

'Are you saying that there would be no spells period for Null magic?' The hunter asked his ghost.

'No, well technically, but no.' The ghost answered, 'What I'm saying is that they may be trying to add something to the magic, making it something. It might be words or… mana? I don't know, but why would you try to make the essence of nothing something.'

'It would make it invalid.' The hunter finished.

'Exactly. I think that you can already use Null magic, or what this world considers Null magic is just Void Light.'

Lance hummed in agreement, 'I get what your saying. With my Void Light, I can create the Shadowshot, which makes all of the enemies affected by it have nothing. No abilities, no movement, no senses, and sometimes they turn into nothing. Disintegrate into the void.'

The hunter could feel Shade nod, 'That's what I was thinking. Your not trying to give the Null something, your just pushing it into the right direction.'

With that, they continued on into the city, and to find Naofumi.

**(The Next Day)**

'Don't feel too bad about it.' Shade told the hunter, 'This city is huge after all, it was unlikely that you would have found Naofumi anyway.'

They had searched the city for the rest of the day and all of the night but for some reason, Lance couldn't find the shield wielder.

'Still, it shouldn't matter that the city is huge. I'm a hunter. I'm always suppose to find my target, not get outplayed by a civilian with no stealth training.' The hunter replied, 'I find it strange that we didn't see the other heroes either though.'

'What do you mean by that?' The ghost asked at the statement.

'I mean that after leaving the castle the other day, the other Heroes seemed to be kept away from each other.' Lance answered, 'It's like something was keeping us from talking or getting to know each other better.'

Shade sighed, 'Ok, now your just being paranoid.'

'I'm a hunter, I'm always parano-'

"Sir Hero!" A voice called out to him, making him turn to a guard running in his direction.

'What does he want?' The ghost asked warily.

The guard stopped in front of the hunter, "Sir Hero, the king has called for you, the Spear Hero, and the Sword Hero to the castle. He expressed it as urgent."

Lance noticed the exclusion of the Shield hero in that statement and became wary, "What does he need us there for?"

"I do not know, Sir Hero." The guard replied.

The hunter sighed after a second before saying, "Fine, take me up there."

**(The Castle - A Few Minutes Later)**

The throne room door was open when Lance got there, allowing him to enter unhindered. As he entered the hunter saw the king sitting on his throne, Ren off to the side, Motoyasu in front of the king's throne, and Myne standing behind Motoyasu.

There was something off about her though. He could see that she wore a different set of armor, this set being made of steel and purple cloth shaped in the style of a skirt.

That's not what stood out the most though, that would be her body language. Her legs seemed to tremble, knees hitting one another, and her hands were kept clutched together. The stance she held made it seem like she was terrified or afraid, but to the trained eye of a hunter it was obviously fake. Her eyes tried to display what could be fear, but it didn't really look like it to Lance.

Just what was she trying to pull.

"Sir Nightshade," the king boomed, "It is good that you have arrived, we are in dire situation."

The hunter raised an eyebrow, "What would that be your majesty?" The name tasted sour on his tongue.

The other two heroes suddenly looked troubled and Myne hid her head in her hands in a way of acting fearful.

It didn't work on Lance.

The king was about to speak before the sound of marching boots filled the halls outside the door. The hunter turned into that direction, only to see Naofumi being dragged into the throne room by a group of six guards.

The shield wielder was thrown to the floor, "Ow! That hurts!" He stated as he hit the floor. The guards surrounded him and pointed their spears at him.

"What's the meaning of this!?" Lance yelled/asked the guards.

He went ignored.

Naofumi's head snapped up to look at the hunter before looking around the room and spotting Myne, "Myne! Are you okay?" A genuine look of worry appeared on his face.

That look was replaced with confusion as Myne hid her face and ducked behind Motoyasu, "Myne?" The shield hero looked around the room to see a stoic Ren and a disgusted Motoyasu.

"I asked you a question king," Lance continued, his voice impatient, "What's the meaning of this treatment?"

It still went unanswered.

"Yo king," Naofumi said with worry in his voice, "All my money and gear, other than my shield, were stolen while I was asleep!" He took half a step forward, "Please help find the thei-"

"Quiet scumbag!" The king's voice roared.

Naofumi stepped back in shock at the king's tone, "What's that about?" he asked surprised, hurt even.

The king just sighed and put his head into his hand, "Myne, you poor girl. Can you tell us what happened one more time please?"

She nodded quietly before speaking in a meek, fake the hunter could tell, voice, "Th-the shield hero barged into my room, drunk and stumbling, and pinned me down…"

'... Is she saying what I think she's saying?' Shade asked.

"Huh!" naofumi exclaimed in disbelief as he stood up, the guards around him aiming their weapons straighter.

That didn't stop Myne from continuing, "He said, "The night is still too young"… and tore all of my clothes off!" She finished loud, crying fake tears, "I don't know how I managed to escape, but I ran into Sir Motoyasu, who was staying at the same inn, and got his help!"

"What the hell is going on!?" The hunter asked again, only to be ignored again.

That made him angry.

Motoyasu continued the conversation with a scowl on his face, "If she didn't ask me to wait until morning and call the knights, I would've cut you down myself!"

The shield hero stood up, "What are you talking about?!" He shouted, angry at the accusation being thrown at him, "I went straight to bed after dinner last night!"

Suddenly a look of realization covered his face, "Wait, that chainmail…" Naofumi said this while looking at the armor that covered Motoyasu, "You were the robber?!"

'I think your missing the point Naofumi.' the ghost stated.

Motoyasu simply laughed though, "What are you talking about robber? Myne gave this to me when we met at the pub yesterday." He brought Myne a little closer into his arms, somrthing the supposed rape victim had no problems with.

This made Lance angrier.

The noble who came into the room started to murmur in quiet shock, "To think that the Shield Hero would commit the gravest sin in this country." The king stated, all to calm.

One of his advisers followed, "In Melromarc, even attempting to sexuallt assult a woman is punishable by death!"

The king, in a move that looked slightly practiced, pointed at Naofumi, "If you weren't a hero you would already be executed!"

"E-executed." Naofumi stammered, before adapting an angry look, "You've got the wrong Idea! If I really did that then where's the proof!?"

As if rehearsed, a guard came up and knelt, "When we search the Shield Hero's room we, um, we found this on his bed." He said this before holding up what looked to be a torn purple lingerie.

Myne gasped and shrieked, running behind the Spear Hero.

"You animal!" Motoyasu spat angrily.

"There you have it, undeniable proof." The king stated with a smug look.

"How?" Naofumi yelled in confusion, "That wasn't there when I woke up!"

"He thinks a hero can do whatever the hell he wants and get away with it." Ren muttered in the background.

"That's nowhere near true." The shield wielder fought back.

"Your not the be all and end all of this world!" Motoyasu spoke, flourishing his spear and pointed it forward, "Know your place!"

Naofumi fell to his knees defeat written on his face. He looked at Myne.

She was smirking.

That made Lance furious.

**(Naofumi)**

He fell to his knees, 'Was is all of this?' He questioned inside of his head, 'What the hell is going on?'

He looked over to Myne who was covering her face, 'Myne… Myne!' He thought in a desperate tone, 'Why would you lie like that? Weren't we supposed to be in a party?'

She took her hands off her face when she thought only Naofumi was looking, and smirked.

Shock recoiled through him as he finally realized, 'I see. Joining me was just a ruse to destroy me right here. It was all a lie.' His thoughts were cold, 'The smiles she showed me, and her acts of kindness, were all fake!'

His fist clenched as he stood up in anger, "You tricked me!" The guards blocked him from moving.

Myne hid back behind Motoyasu, "I'm so scared Sir Motoyasu!"

A look of rage appeared on the spear wielder's face, "Shut up you crim-"

"ENOUGH!" Lancer roared loud enough to quiet the room, everyone looking at him in surprise.

His figure was covered in soft but noticeable purple flames. The flames didn't spread, nor did they provide heat. They were just there. Intimidating.

"Now then," After seeing that everyone was quiet, the hunter continued in a calm voice. Cold and sharp, but calm all the same, "You all keep saying, or I should say accusing, Naofumi sexualy assulted Myne. Am I correct in saying that?"

The king had a look of confusion at the question mixed with rage at the situation, "Of course, that dev-"

"Alright," The hunter interrupted, "Tell me what evidence you have for believing that."

That statement gave mixed reactions. For most it was a shock.

For Naofumi it was hope. Hope that someone was defending him.

For the king, it was anger, "Do you not believe Myne? She was attacked by that monster! Her statement is enough to send him to death!"

"Yet," The hunter followed, "It is not where I come from. That statement is enough to start an investigation, which it seems like you didn't do. Tell me, have you talked to any witnesses?"

The king scoffed and answered, "Of course we did and they all support her testimony."

'What?!' Naofumi shouted in his head.

Lance continued though, "I assume that they all gave their own statements then? Not ones provided for them?"

The king narrowed his eyes in a scowl, "What are you implying Sir Nightshade?"

The hunter stared him down, "You know exactly what I'm implying, and I have proof."

Naofumi had no idea what Lance was talking about, but the king seemed to. If the look of surprise on his face meant anything. The scowl quickly returned though, "Don't do anything you will regret Nightshade."

"Trust me," The Guardian said, "I wouldn't regret it one bit."

Tension filled the room, everyone waiting to see who will crack first.

Naofumi grit his teeth, 'They're willing to go against him for defending me? All because he's defending the Shield Hero, because I'm weak they're trying to knock me down to make themselves look better.'

He looked at the hunter who looked like he was ready to draw his bow, 'All of these people are disgusting. This country's people don't believe in me one bit either, not even from the word of another hero.'

'Why should I have to fight for them.'

Lance brought his hand up to his arm, a holographic screen started to form. Naofumi interrupted him, "Fine, I don't care anymore."

Lance spun around to face him, the screen going down, "Naofumi! What are you saying?"

"Send me back to my world." The Shield Hero demanded in a cold voice, "Summon a new Shield Hero or whatever the hell you want! Another world, huh. Why should I have to go through this in another world?!"

Ren spoke with a disgusted voice, "Your going to run as soon as things don't go your way, huh? Could you stoop any lower."

Motoyasu laughed, "Yeah, go ahead and go. Who wants to fight next to a rap-"

"Shut up!" Naofumi yelled, "Just send me back to my world already!"

The king put a hind on his face, "As much as I would love to send you out, I'm afraid I can't do that. The legend says that the only way for new heroes to be summoned is for all of the current heroes to die."

"What!" Ren exclaimed.

"No way…" Motoyasu said in a quiet voice.

Lance clicked his tongue, "I expected as much."

The Shield Hero clenched his fist, "So there's no way for me to go back home."

"Well," The king started, looking over his hand, "After you defeat all of the waves, you will certainly be sent back home."

"Are you saying we have to fight the waves alongside a guy like him?" Motoyasu asked in disbelief.

"Fine!" Naofumi yelled, "I'll fight the waves my own way then!" He pushed out his arms, throwing the guards away from him only for them to try to hold him down again, "Get away from me!"

His shield glowed green and the guards went flying again, "What are you going to do? Throw me in prison until the next wave?"

"Not on my watch." Lance stated, stepping closer to Naofumi with his bow in his hand.

The king sighed, "I won't imprison you. There is not enough time before the next wave and, as much as I hate to say it, you are still one of the heroes. On of the only people able to fight off the waves. News of your crime is already spreading across the kingdom. That is your punishment. Don't think you'll ever be able to live a normal life in this country ever again."

Lance growled as the purple flames on his body increased.

"I know that already!" Naofumi yelled as he turned and walked to the door, pulling something out of his shield, "This is what you wanted right?" He said as he through a handful of silver coins across the floor, "You can shove it up your ass!"

"Naofumi wait!" Lance said, running up to the Shield Hero, only for said hero to look at him.

"I'm weak, remember. I don't have a second to waste." He looked back at the door, "Thank you for trying at least, I'll remember that."

He exited the room.

**(Lance)**

'Naofumi…' Shade said in a worried voice.

"What was that Lance!" Motoyasu yelled, "Why did you defend that rapist!?"

The hunter turned to him, his eyes cold and unseen, void flames mow dead, "He's not a rapist. I've seen rapists before. He is not a rapist."

He left the throne room, not caring for the voices of the king and the other heroes calling to him.

Neither did he notice the shadow that followed him.

**(Outside The City - Nearby Forests)**

'Those idiots, all of them.' Lance thought angrily, 'They had no real evidence and yet they convicted Naofumi. Throwing him out like trash.'

Lance and his ghost left the city in frustration, their first time out of that city. The forest was thick, but not overly so. Other than the easily popped balloon monster, there was nothing to bother them.

'Why did you think he left like that?' Shade asked the hunter.

'We were going to face the king's ire, I think he wanted to protect us from that.' Lance answered with what he believed.

'... the idiot.'

They wanted to find the shielder, to help him, but they both knew that wasn't what needed to happen. He needed to be left alone to grow into a fighter, it was the only way he was going to be able to fight in the next wave.

No matter how much Lance hated it.

_Snap_

Lance looked to the motion radar. His left, close by.

He crouched with bow in hand and snuck in close, moving to the detected movement and snapped twig. It led him to a tree, the radar saying something was behind it.

He spun around the tree and drew back an arrow made of yellow light from the Legendary Bow, only to stop at what he saw.

It was a girl, small and frail. Her hair was a very light brown, cropped short at the shoulders and her eyes were a shade of light gold. They were dull and lifeless as she cowered in front of the hero. All she wore were rags, not even close to what would be considered clothes. On here head were a set of animal ears. Weasel if the hunter was right.

There was something on her chest though, an intriget purple rune painted on with ink.

**(End)**

**Chapter 5 - The Slave Girl - February 24**


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer - I do not own the Destiny franchise or The Rising of the Shield Hero

I also want to say that this chapter was hard for me to write and it might not be my best work.

**Chapter 5 - The Slave Girl**

_Snap_

Lance looked to the motion radar. His left, close by.

He crouched with bow in hand and snuck in close, moving to the detected movement and snapped twig. It led him to a tree, the radar saying something was behind it.

He spun around the tree and drew back an arrow made of yellow light from the Legendary Bow, only to stop at what he saw.

It was a girl, small and frail. Her hair was a very light brown, cropped short at the shoulders and her eyes were a shade of light gold. They were dull and lifeless as she cowered in front of the hero. All she wore were rags, not even close to what would be considered clothes. On her head were a set of animal ears. Weasel if the hunter was right.

There was something on her chest though, an intriget purple rune painted on with ink.

The girl whimpered and held herself tighter, causing Lance to snap out of his surprised state.

The arrow disappeared and he set the bow down in the grass next to him. He then knelt down in the grass in front of the girl causing her to stiffen, "Don't worry, it's ok. I'm not going to hurt you." The hunter said this in a voice so soft that the girl couldn't help but relax. Only a little though.

"My name is Lance. Can you tell me your's?" He continued, his voice still soft. She didn't answer though, choosing to stay silent in the presence of the hunter.

His eyes drifted to her exposed limbs and noticed the purple tinge when compared to the color of her skin. The harshest of these wounds were on her wrists, obvious from the amount of scarring on them.

'She's been bound.' Shade said in a monotone voice, stating the obvious.

'Not to mention beaten.' The hunter added in the same mental tone, 'You getting anything on that… rune on her chest?'

'... Yeah.' The ghost answered, 'It seems to be made out of magic. At least, that's what I can tell from here. I would need an actual scan if I wanted to get rid of it, and we do want to get rid of it. The faster the better.'

'While I agree with that,' The hunter stated, 'Why does it need to come off so fast?'

'Simply put, the rune seems to be connected to her life force.' Shade stated, 'It has the possibility to kill her at any time.'

'Let's not waste any time then.' Lance stated before softly talking to the girl again, "I'm about to do something to get rid of that rune on you, so please don't freak out."

Fortunately for the hunter, the girl perked up a little at the mention of getting rid of the rune, "... You can do that?" She finally spoke, her voice barely audible but hopeful nonetheless.

The hunter showed an unseen smile, "Yeah," He replied softly, "All I ask you is to stay still." The girl nodded slowly at his words, and Lance brought his left hand up, palm up.

Just before Shade could appear though, the small girl's weasel ears twitched and her eyes went wide. She curled back up and whimpered again. The hunter found out why a second later.

"... couldn't have gone far, so shut up and keep looking!" An irritated, angry voice of a man was heard a fair distance away, on the edge of the motion traker's capabilities.

The voice of another man responded, this one sounding more annoyed than angry, "There's no way the girl survived out here. Let's just go and tell that trader the girl died on the way here. She was going to die from sickness anyway."

The first man sighed, "As much as I would love to do that, this," Lance could hear an object, most likely wooden in material, being tapped, "Says that her slave crest is still active, meaning she's still alive."

The second man grumbled, "This better be worth the payout."

Slave crest. Is that what Lance heard? To the hunter, the concept of slavery wasn't unheared of in the Last City. You'd be surprised what people will do when they feel safe from the Darkness that roamed the outside of the walls. Lance has even seen some cases of slavery and other sex crimes when he would help the police force in the city.

It was never a pleasant sight.

Lance stood up and faced the direction of the men coming in his direction, but he didn't go to them for two reasons. One, he didn't want to leave the girl alone, even if she was alone. Secondly, the hunter wanted more information from the men.

They continued to talk to themselves, "It should be," The first man answered the second's question, "The trader said she was chosen by someone else, like that racoon demi we brought in the other day."

The second hummed, "If the payout was like last time, then it should definitely be worth-"

"Shhh-shh." The first man shussed the other, "The mark is glowing brighter, she should just be up here."

The hunter looked back at the girl and noticed no change, leading him to believe that the men had some kind of mark of their own. Maybe on a seperate object they have.

A smoke bomb appeared in the hunter's right hand. He placed it upside down in front of the girl before activating it, making her 'eep' as she turned invisible. It wasn't loud enough for the men tracking her to hear, but the hunter put a finger over where his mouth would be. The universal signal for quiet.

Her signal on the motion tracker did not disappear with her turning invisible, but instead it turned into a blue dot, marking her as an ally.

The two searchers finally stumbled into the clearing, stopping when they saw the hunter. They looked kind of, well, normal. No distinct features, no fancy or rundown clothing. They both had brown hair, one had blue eyes while the other had green. They wore simple brown tunics and grey pants with simple leather shoes. The one with blue eyes was taller than his friend though. The shorter man had a small wooden plaque in his hand, on top of it was a purple rune.

Lance was the first to speak, "Hello."

He didn't say much.

The two snapped out of their trance, "Oh, um, hello to you." The green eyed man said in confusion, "May I ask, who are you?"

"My name is Lance." His answer was short.

"That's a rather peculiar name…" The taller man mumbled.

Once the shorter man heard his name though, he looked over the hunter's armor and bow. His eyes widened in realization, "Lance? As in the Bow Hero, Lance Nightshade?"

The hunter's eyes widened for a second before he spoke, "You mean to tell me word travels that fast around here? It's only been a day since I got here."

"So you really are one of the heroes?" The tall man asked in awe.

"Yes," The hunter answered, "May I ask who you two are?"

The shorter man spoke first, "Oh yes, sorry for not introducing ourselves sir hero. My name is Meishu Burazazu, and this is my brother Shinja Burazazu."

Lance nodded, "A pleasure to meet you, but, what are you doing out here?" The hunter already knew the answer, "It's dangerous to be out here alone with monsters running about."

The taller brother suddenly looked nervous, but Meishu's composure didn't change, "We're looking for my friend's daughter." He lied through his teeth, "You see, he has fallen ill and we have been looking after his daughter in his absence."

Shinja nodded along, "Yeah, she doesn't like us though so she ran into the forest here while we were going into the city."

Lance had to admit, Meishu could come up with a story pretty fast. That, at least, was a little respectable, "What's that then? Some kind of tracker or something?" The hunter pointed at the wooden plaque in the shorter man's hand.

The said man looked at it in his hand, almost like he had forgotten it was there, " Yeah, actually." He went along with it, "She can use magic, so it's tracking that. It says that she's nearby actually."

"Hmm," The hunter hummed, "It looks more like a slave crest to me."

The brothers froze at his words, looking at Lance. Meishu recovered quickly though, "I don't know what you mean sir he-"

"Look, I'm going to cut to the chase. Stop looking for the girl and move on." The hunter bluntly stated.

The shorter man sighed after a second, "We can't just do that. We've signed a contract for this job, a magically binding one. We have to complete it."

"Besides," Shinja opened his mouth, "She's just a demi. You may not know, coming from a different world and all, but demis are lower than trash."

"Shut up!" Meishu hissed to his brother, only for him not to listen.

"Being slaves is their best use." The taller brother continued, "That's just the tru-" He wasn't able to continue.

A black armored fist slammed into his stomach, but it didn't stop there. Purple fire spread from the point of impact developing his body before it disappeared, taking his body with it. All that was left was a fine purple mist, and even that faded after a second.

The shorter brother stepped back in fear while Lance looked at his hand, inspecting it.

"W-what did you do to him?" Meishu asked in a shaky voice, causing Lance to turn to him.

"He's dead," The hunter replied, "At least, I believe he is. I really didn't expect him to disintegrate in one hit though, it was just supposed to knock him down." He murmured the last part mostly to himself.

The green eyed man took a step back, "Why d-did you kill him?" He once again asked in fear.

The hunter gave him a hard look, "He was suggesting that the girl was less than human, and I didn't mean to kill him. Now, just leave and stop looking for the girl."

The man thought for a second before steeling himself, "I can't do that, I'm bound by magical contract. If I fail to bring her, then I will die."

"And you're willing to risk death by me to complete that contract?" The hunter asked.

"Yes." Was his answer.

Lance sighed at his answer, "So be it."

Meishu made the first move, "Decipher the laws of nat-" His chant was cut short as an arrow made of light slammed into him.

Slammed, not pierced.

Strangely the arrow did not peirce the man. Maybe it was because the man disintegrated into particles of light as soon as the arrow made contact with his skin.

'... Why did that happen again?' Shade asked, 'People aren't supposed to be weak enough to die like that.'

'I… don't know.' The hunter responded, 'It might have something to do with my Guardian stat-' A scream cut him short.

Lance turned and saw the girl, uncloaked from her invisibility, seizing on the ground with pain. He ran to her, Shade coming out and floating above the girl.

"What's happening to her?" The hunter asked the ghost in a tone of seriousness.

"The rune on her chest," The ghost responded quickly, "It's draining her life force."

Lance cursed, "Can you turn it off?"

"Already on it." Shade said, a beam of light already connected to the girl. Not even a second later, the rune seemed to shatter before fading. The girl went silent.

The hunter was silent.

"She's alive, just asleep, so don't worry." The ghost said, causing Lance to sigh in relief, "I suggest setting up a proper camp for now, we can do more for her when she wakes up."

**(Rifana)**

Rifana didn't know what to think.

This morning she was harshly woken up, like normal, but instead of being strung up by chains to be tortured, she was thrown into a caged cart and taken away. The people taking her said something about how she was going to be given the same fate as Raphtalia, or the racoon in their words.

She didn't know what that meant, but it didn't sound pleasant.

The men stopped to rest part way through their journey. So while they were distracted, she slipped through the bars that were too wide for her frail body and ran.

They gave chase.

She managed to lose them in the forest, but she knew it was only a matter of time with her slave crest. She wasn't even able to run for long, her legs were just too frail and she was still sick.

She had collapsed on a tree, unable to go on, and didn't notice the snap of a stick she sat on. She did notice the man with the bow though. Especially when he pointed said bow at her.

He quickly moved it though, setting the bow down and telling her he wasn't going to hurt her. She didn't know why, but she believed him. Only a little though.

He said his name was Lance, but when he asked her for her name, she didn't want to say. It wouldn't matter anyway.

He then told her that he could take the slave crest off of her. She became hopeful, even if in the back of her mind she knew it was impossible. That's when she, and Lance apparently, heard them. The men transporting her had caught up.

She wanted to run, but she couldn't move. Her body was too sore. Lance moved though, placing a weird grey disk in front of her. It released smoke, but she didn't cough when she inhaled it. Instead, she turned translucent, causing her to 'eep' in surprise.

Lance stood up, bow in hand, and started talking to the men when they entered the clearing. She couldn't believe it when she heard it, but they called Lance the Bow Hero.

The Legendary Bow Hero. The one from the storybooks her mother used to read to her. She never thought she would meet one, not after she became a slave.

When they mentioned her though, she thought that the Bow Hero was going to give her up, but he didn't mention her. He continued to talk to the men as if he had never met her.

The men didn't leave though. Not even when the Bow Hero told them to stop looking for her. The tall one even said that demi-humans like her were lower than trash. After he said that though, he disappeared in a purple mist.

She didn't even realize that the Bow Hero did it until the remaining man said so. That man refused to leave as well. The Bow Hero shot him with his bow, making him disappear in a white light instead.

That's when the pain started.

A searing, agonizing pain erupted from her chest, causing her to scream out in pain. The world around her turned black, but not before she saw the Bow Hero run up to her followed by a flash of light and a floating black object.

.

.

.

She woke up to a dark sky. Not nighttime, but almost. The clearing wasn't as dark though.

There was a campfire in the center of the clearing a few feet away from her. It was a raging fire, it's blaze warmer than she had felt in a long time. She moved closer for this reason.

It was then that she noticed the blanket on top of her. It wasn't big, but it was more than enough to cover her small body and keep it warm. Looking around her, she noticed some other things.

One was that she was still in the same clothes as before, that is to say rags, but next to her on another blanket was a set of new clothes. A short sleeved shirt, pants, socks, and even a new pair of what looked like shoes. They were all black.

Weirdly enough, they looked like they would fit her.

Another thing she noticed was the lack of anyone else. Well, anyone that she could see. Something told her she was being watched, but she couldn't tell what it was. She was used to the feeling though, she was never really alone when she was a slave to Lord Idol.

That thought made her look to her slave crest, only to gasp when she saw that it was gone.

It was actually gone.

Before she could think more about it, someone walked into the clearing. She tensed up before relaxing slightly. It was the man from earlier, still wearing his strange armor and wielding the white and gold bow.

'The Bow Hero.' Rifana reminded herself.

He noticed her sitting up and walked her way. She didn't move, watching him approach. He didn't seem threatening in the way he walked, but that didn't make her any less nervous.

He stopped in front of her and crouched down to her level, "Are you feeling alright?" he asked in his soft voice, a voice that made her still tense muscles completely relax.

"... A bit." She responded softly after a second. He seemed happy with her reply, though it was hard to tell with the helmet on.

"That's good." The Bow Hero continued, "Do you want something to eat?"

She didn't voice an answer, but her growling stomach did.

He stood up, laughing softly, while Rifana blushed in embarrassment, "I'll get you something to eat. Why don't you put those on?" He said pointing to the pile of clothes she saw earlier, "I resized them, so they should fit you."

Rifana nodded, causing him to turn away and move to the fire. She looked at the clothes and moved to them. After a second's hesitation, she picked up the shirt and immediately noticed how soft it was. It was softer than anything she had felt before.

She slowly put it back down, relishing the softness, before glancing back at the Bow Hero. He was doing something at the fire, not looking at her. After a moment's hesitation, she removed the rags covering her body and put the soft clothes on. They all fit perfectly. There was even a pair of underwear for her, something she didn't expect.

The shoes were confusing to her though, she had never seen anything like them. The bottom and toe of the shoe were made of a hard material, and the leather making the rest of the shoe was also hard, making them look uncomfortable to wear. They were tall enough to cover her ankles and string laces were strung all of the way up them.

Surprisingly though, the insides of the shoes were… fluffy, like a pillow. That was the best way Rifana could describe it. When she put them on her feet, she couldn't believe how comfortable they were.

She couldn't figure out the laces though, so she left them untied and stuffed them in the shoes with her feet.

Rifana turned her attention back to the Bow Hero just in time to see him coming over to her, a bowl in his hand. She sniffed the air and her mouth started to water involuntarily, whatever he had smelled good.

He sat down in front of her and held the wooden bowl out to her. She took it slowly, but when it was in her hands she didn't hesitate to grab the spoon in the bowl and eat it like a hungry animal. It tasted as good as it smelled.

After she was done, the Bow Hero spoke, "Can you tell me your name?"

She hesitated, "... It's Rifana."

"That's a lovely name, Rifana." The hero replied, "My name is Lance."

"I remember," She spoke, "You told me before the men showed up." She paused for a moment, "Is… is what they said true?"

"About what?" Lance asked in a hesitant tone.

"Are… are you really the Bow Hero?" She asked, this time in a hopeful tone.

Lance chuckled before nodding, "Yes I am. Me and the other heroes were summoned the other day."

She didn't have to look in a mirror to tell that there were stars in her eyes. It was her dream to meet one of the Legendary Heroes, more so the Shield Hero, but the Bow Hero was cool too. The storybooks always said that the Bow Hero fought for justice, so it made sense for him to save her from the slave traders.

Speaking of slave traders, "Um," She started, making Lance look at her, "How did you get the slave crest off of me? Was it that black, floaty thing?" She said the last part after suddenly remembering it from before.

At first he looked alarmed at the mention of it, making Rifana regret mentioning it, but a flash of light caught both of their attention.

Next to Lance was the black object from before, but she had a better view of it now. It was made of metal, that much she could tell, but the rest was a mystery to her. It had what looked like an eye in the center of it, that was glowing blue.

"Shade!" The Bow Hero said in a hissed tone, "Why are you-"

"Relax." 'Shade' said, "She's already seen me." The small construct turned to Rifana, "Hello! My name is Shade. I'm a Ghost, Lance's Ghost to be specific."

Rifana blinked, "Lance's ghost? Does that mean he's dead?"

They were silent for a second before Shade laughed, "No, he's not dead. A Ghost is just what things like me are called. I, as a Ghost, help Lance keep his head straight."

"Hey!" The said hero retorted, causing Rifana to laugh. The hero sighed, "To answer you question Rifana, yes, it was Shade that took the slave crest off."

"I also made the medicine that cured your Tuberculosis." The Ghost budded in.

A confused look covered her face, "What's Tuberculosis?"

"I was the sickness infecting your lungs," Lance answered, "It almost killed you."

That, Rifana understood. She couldn't believe she forgot she was sick. She bowed her head, "Thank you, for saving me."

The Bow Hero chuckled, "You don't need to thank me for that. Any hero worth the name would have done it."

The hero went silent for a second before continuing, "We are going to set out in the morning and I need to ask this. Is there anywhere you want me to take you? People you can stay with?"

Rifana looked down, a sad look on her face, "I… see." Lance said in response.

He suddenly looked to the Ghost, they seemed to be having a conversation with each other even if no words were spoken. They seemed to come to an agreement.

The hero turned back to Rifana, "Rifana, would you like to travel with me? At least until you have a place to st-"

"I would love to travel with you!" She cut him off in an excited voice. She could hardly believe it. One of the Legendary Heroes was offering her a spot on their team. She would get to travel with him, spend time with him, and get to know him better than anyone else.

Who knows, maybe they would fall in love and get married. The thought made her blush.

Lance seemed taken aback by the sudden acceptance, but quickly recovered, "Well then, welcome to the team."

As he said it, text appeared in front of her. It read, 'You have been added to Lance Nightshade's party'. Along with this, in the top left corner of her vision her name and his name appeared. Below each was a red bar, a green bar, and a blue bar. Next to their names were their levels. There was a 1 next to Rifana's name, and next to Lance's there was…

Rifana smiled. That confirmed it, Lance was a Legendary Hero.

Who else could reach level 240.

**(End)**

**Before you all run away, this isn't a 'Oh I'm sooooo overpowered, I'll just stop the waves by myself story. Just stick with me.**

**As for why it's that high, that will be explained in a different chapter. Just know that it has to do with Lance's Light Level being so high. **

**I also wanted to say that Rifana's sickness was not as bad in this version of the world, and that was only so she could survive to this point. **

**I also got some comments about the deactivated Ghost in their possession. All I wanted to say about that is, not yet.**

**That you all for your awesome support so far. I mean, 4 chapters but already more than 200 follows. That's insane. All of your reviews are appreciated and loved, so keep them coming. **

**Who knows, maybe one or two of your ideas will be put in to the story. But I digress. **

**Have a wonderful evening and see you all next time.**

**Chapter 6 - The Hound of Hades - March 9th **


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer - I do not own the Destiny franchise or The Rising of the Shield Hero

My longest chapter yet boys.

(Hopefully you like the fight scenes, I don't think I'm very good at writing them)

**Chapter 6 - The Hound of Hades**

It had been a week since Rifana joined his party and Lance still didn't know what to think about it. It went against his moral code to willingly let someone, let alone a child, close to a battlefield.

But, Shade had brought up a good point that night.

**(Flashback - A Week Earlier)**

_"We are going to set out in the morning and I need to ask this. Is there anywhere you want me to take you? People you can stay with?" Lance had asked this hopefully, even if he knew the answer. _

_Rifana looked down, a sad look on her face, confirming what he thought._

"_I… see." He followed his own statement._

'_Lance.' Shade called out mentally, causing the hunter to look at him, 'You know that we have to bring her with us.' _

_Lance didn't argue that fact, 'Yeah, I know, I'm just worried. She's still a kid and we're more than likely to encounter the monsters of this world when we travel. She'll be in danger.'_

'_I'm worried about that too,' The Ghost responded, 'But, if we are in a party with her she should be fine.'_

'_What do you mean by that?' The hunter asked._

'_Well,' The Ghost continued, 'If I understand it right, when people are in a party together they grow more powerful based on killing monsters. If she was in your party, things you kill should make her stronger.' He paused, 'At least that's what the help menu said. This XP thing is weird to me.'_

'_Alright,' The hunter said after a second, 'I'm still not okay with it though, but I might as well teach her how to defend herself as well.'_

_Seeing that the conversation was over, Lance turned to Rifana and asked, "Rifana, would you like to travel with me? At least until you have a place to st-"_

_"I would love to travel with you!" She cut him off in an excited voice._

_Maybe a little too excited._

_He quickly recovered from his surprise, "Well then, welcome to the team."_

_At the conclusion of that sentence, another pop up appeared in his vision. 'Rifana has joined your party.' Along with this, something new was added to his vision._

_In the top right of his vision his and Rifana's names appeared. Under the names were thin red, green, and blue bars. Next to each of their names was a number preceded by the letters 'LV'. _

_He guessed that meant level. _

_Next to Rifana was level one. It made sense really. Lance was more confused about his own level though._

'_I'm level 240?'_

**(Present)**

His own level was still confusing to him, but after thinking about it he found some sense in it. He was a Guardian and likely a lot more powerful than the average summoned hero.

Even then, he didn't know if his level was considered powerful compared to the average adventurer in this world.

As for training Rifana, that was going good. Lance, not wanting her to be close to the battle field, had started to train her on how to properly use a gun. More specifically, a scout rifle.

She was rather confused on what it was when he had given it to her, but she learned quickly. Over the past week she was able to get the basics of shooting down, even if she threw the gun with a scream the first time it fired. The ears on top of her head were more sensitive than he thought.

She wasn't near the level of a Guardian, but she was on her way. Speaking of level though…

Lance glanced at Rifana, who was walking beside and a little behind him. She had grown to level 14 during the week, according to the hud, and the change was very obvious.

Not only had she gained weight and muscle mass, making her look a lot healthier, but she had physically grown. No, grown was the wrong word. She aged.

It was strange beyond belief for the hunter, but while the girl was 10 years old she looked to be around 14-15 years old. It basically happened overnight. One day she was normal, then the next day Shade had to resize her clothes because she had grown out of them.

Her hair was still cropped short, but it was cleaner and better kept. She also walked with a bit more pep, her eyes livelier than when he found her. While her clothes were resized, the color was changed, leading to her now having a light tan shirt and tan combat boots. The pants were kept black. He did give her a spare jacket Shade had in his storage, which was of course black.

That didn't change the fact that they would still have to go to a town or city soon to get her actual womens clothing if she kept ageing like that.

She was holding the scout rifle he had given her, not having a way to mag lock it to her back and no real holster for it.

The gun itself was entirely black in color. It was smooth yet boxy, the same style as Kindled Orchid. The scope was a piece of what looked like glass fixed to the gun with two metal pieces. Behind the scope was a gap with a rainbowy energy flowing through it. The stock was behind that of course, the ammo clip inserted into it.

This was No Feelings, a gun that showed only apathy to its targets.

He refocused on the path. They had traveled a lot in the past week, killing monsters mostly. Right now they were close to the coast, the ocean's waters splashing against the cliff edge nearby.

They had no real destination in mind when traveling and no real goal. Just to travel the frontier.

Something caught his eye up ahead. He held his hand out for Rifana to stop, which she did, "What's wrong?" She asked.

"There's something up ahead." He answered before tapping the side of his helmet. Like looking through binoculars, Lance's vision zoomed in, giving him a closer look. He idly noticed Rifana look through No Feeling's scope.

Getting a closer look at it, he noticed that what he saw up ahead was a set of buildings, all collapsed on themselves. There were enough of them to be considered a village.

Well, what used to be a village.

He zoomed back out and looked at Rifana, but the look on her face made him pause. Only for a moment, "Rifana, what's wrong?"

With a sad face, she answered him in a soft voice, "Th-that's my old village."

Ah, well, this was awkward. He didn't really know how to proceed, "Do you… want to avoid it then? We could always go around."

"No," She answered quickly, "No, I need to do this. Let's go." She marched forward.

Lance followed.

It didn't take long to get there. It was a decent sized village that expanded across the hill and the beach. Old boats floated in the water, decaying with time and water exposure. The wooden beams of houses were in no better condition, roofs caved in and walls had fallen down.

Rifana was walking down the road, looking around the buildings with a sad look on her face. Lance walked behind her, "What happened here, if you don't mind me asking?" He asked her.

She was silent for a moment, but spoke nonetheless, "It happened during the first wave. Monsters attacked the village."

'That made sense.' Lance thought.

"But that wasn't the end of it." She continued, "A lot of us survived, and we started to rebuild." She gave a weak laugh, "Well, after Raphtalia gave us the motivation to."

"Was Raphtalia a friend of yours?" He asked, standing next to her when she stopped.

She gave a sad smile, "Yeah, my best friend." Her eyes started to tear up before continuing, "As the village started to rebuild, things were looking up for us. We were recovering."

"But something else happened, right?" The hunter asked when she paused.

"Yeah," She answered, tears now rolling down her face, "A few days after the wave, we saw soldiers coming to us. We thought they were there to help us, but…"

"They attacked you." Lance guessed, clenching his fist when Rifana nodded.

"T-there was no way for us to stop the soldiers, most of us were children after all. A-a lot of people were killed, but most of us were taken and e-enslaved including me and Raphtalia." She choked on some of the words, crying hard.

She fell to the ground and leaned against the ruins of one of the buildings. Lance, not knowing what to do, sat next to her and put his hand on hers for reassurance. Only to stiffen in surprise when she suddenly closed the distance and hugged him, her head on his chest. He quickly relaxed his body and put his arms around her to comfort her, letting her cry it out.

They stayed like that, the only sounds being her cries and the ocean's waves.

After a few minutes, her tears had stopped flowing and she looked up at Lance, "S-sorry about that."

The hunter just chuckled, "Its fine. Are you feeling better now?"

"Yeah, a bit at least." She answered with a small smile before standing up and dusting herself off, "Let's keep going, I want to see if I can fi-" She was interrupted by Lance spinning in place to look behind him.

The edge of his motion tracker had lit up.

He couldn't see anything but wrecked buildings, so with bow now in hand he crouched low and started moving. Rifana, having seen this before, crouched and followed him, No Feelings at the ready.

They moved slowly, but quietly around the building towards the tracked motion. When the mid radar range on his tracker lit up, they could hear the sound of claws scratching on stone inside one of the nearby intact(mostly) buildings.

They each took a side of the closed door, the middle of Lance's motion tracker red, and slowly opened the door. The creature inside didn't notice them, but they noticed it.

The creature looked like a doberman, except it was standing about as tall as Lance at about five feet. Its fur was a dark black/grey that reminded the hunter of ash.

Above its head was a red bar, its health, a name, and a level. The name being 'Spawn of Cerberus' and the level 15.

Lance mentally logged this and drew back an arrow, aimed, and released. The hound died instantly, turning into particles of light. A pop up appeared a second later.

_Rifana Leveled Up! _

_Level 15_

He had seen this pop up a lot in the past week, and he had to say that it was interesting to see the level grow fast. He couldn't say that for himself though.

_+0 EXP_

It was annoying, but understandable as to why that kept happening. The monsters were too low of a level for him, to put it simply. Nothing would give him EXP for a long time.

If he would get any at all.

But that didn't matter now, "Rifana," She looked at the talking hunter, "Have you seen these monsters in the area before?"

"No, monsters never really appeared near the village before. Other than the wave." She responded, adding the last part after a pause. A confused look crossed her face, "Why would that be important? Monsters migrate like any other animal."

"I wouldn't be concerned if it wasn't for its name." Lance said. Rifana just looked more confused so he continued, "It was the 'Spawn of Cerberus'. I've fought creatures with titles like that before, and it always means the same thing. There's a higher tier, a leader, of those creatures in the area."

She nodded slowly in understanding before her face appeared a little fearful, "S-so you're saying that there's a boss monster somewhere around here." Lance's nod only made her grip her rifle tighter.

"If that's what you call that class of monster, then yes." The hunter took note of her expression, "We don't have to fight it though, we can just leave."

She seemed to consider it before steeling herself, "No, we can't just let a boss monster run free." Rifana said shaking her head, "Besides," She continued, "This is my village. I won't let a monster make it their home if I can do anything about it."

Lance nodded at her words. He couldn't help but worry though. Mainly for Rifana's safety, but his thoughts were also on this boss monster. If there was one at all. For all he knew the name 'Spawn of Cerberus' could just be a coincidence.

Still, thinking about it made him think of the Hive. Them and their armies of spawn bred to fight for the darkness. It made him uneasy.

"So," Rifana said, breaking Lance out of his thoughts, "How are we supposed to find the boss?"

The hunter looked at the spot the hound used to be, "Well, we can't track it with its spawn. Shade?" He called out to his trusty Ghost.

'I'm tracking an energy signature that might be it, it fits well enough. I'll mark it for you.' The Ghost replied, causing both Lance and Rifana to nod.

That was another thing Lance and his Ghost gave to her, an earpiece that would allow her to hear Shade when he was hidden away.

True to the Ghost's word, a small, grey diamond appeared in the hunter's vision. He started to follow it, Rifana close behind him.

**(The Coast - A Few Minutes Later)**

It didn't take long for them to track it down. The village was bordering an ocean, separated by a beach. There was a cliffside next to a portion of the ocean that provided a great look from above. Below, however, there was a cave.

The entrance wasn't huge, but it wasn't small either. It was big enough to fit an arcadia class jumpship, but any bigger and it wouldn't fit. They couldn't see the end of the cave, but they could tell that it was deep.

"Ready to go?" Lance asked the weasel demi as they stood at the entrance of the cave, their feet half submerged in the tides water.

"Yep, ready to go." Rifana responded before glancing at her soaked feet, "Let's get out of this water."

And so, they entered the cave.

Following the natural corridors, the two of them quickly noticed just how dark and narrow the cavern got. So dark in fact, Shade saw the need to come out and provide light ahead of them. Interestingly enough, it seemed as if Rifana didn't need the light provided.

Maybe she had night vision. He would have to ask her later.

It wasn't long before the hunter noticed something strange though, "Rifana," Lance started, making said girl look at him, "Was anything ever built down here?"

The question was warranted. The further they walked into the cave's system, the more shaped rock or bricks he would see. They were obviously old and worn down by erosion, but they were there nonetheless.

"Nothing that I can remember," She replied, "But there was, or should I say is, an old temple down here. None of the kids were allowed to go to it though." She pouted at the last part.

The hunter nodded at the statement. He was beginning to see the makings of a cobblestone path, leading further into the cave. Even if it was gradual, he didn't need Shade to tell him that the path had started to decline, making them go further into the ground.

'Your closing up on the target.' The Ghost stated, making Rifana stand straighter, 'There's a big chamber up ahead, the target is in there.'

The two of them slowed their march upon seeing the entrance to said chamber, Shade turning his light off and returning to Lance. The hunter was only blind for a second though as the 'eyes' on his helmet emitted a light, barely visible glow. This glow signified the helmet's night vision turning on, allowing Lance to see the room ahead of him.

It was, as the Ghost said, a large chamber. Several entrances could be seen along the walls, one bigger than the others with parts of it cracked off of the edges. Almost like something big went through it. Another notable entrance was on the top of a large set of steps that lined the wall going up at least 40 feet.

On the other side of the camber was what used to be the main attraction, a stone temple that would have been glorious in its time. It was long past that time though. The walls were crumbled and the ceiling caved in. A few pillars were still standing, but they were cracked and likely to fall at any moment.

The only distinguishable feature about the old structure was a symbol on a large slab of stone. It was made of multiple weapons, four to be exact. On the bottom of the weapons was a shield, on top of that was a bow that was facing up. A spear and sword were also there though they were layered on top of each other, the spearhead facing up and the sword's blade facing down.

The appearance of the weapons didn't go over Lance though. They looked exactly like the Legendary Weapons.

Interesting, but he had bigger problems to deal with. Mainly the three headed dog sleeping in the center of the room.

It was massive to say the least. If it was standing, it would have been 15 feet tall. Its body was similar to the spawn he had killed, pure black fur and doberman like. Its main differences were of course its size and the fact that it had three heads. Each head was different though. The one on the far left had two horns while the one in the middle only had one and the far right head had none.

Above its middle head was a name, 'Cerberus, The Hound of Hades'. Next to that was its level, 35. Its health bar looked different as well. It was still red, but the red was outlined in gold, the ends shaped like open mouthed wolves.

Rifana whimpered.

Lance's head snapped to her, "What's wrong?" He spoke, barely above a whisper.

She responded quietly, her voice shaky and terrified, "T-that's the m-monster that destroyed the v-village during the w-wave. It k-killed Raphtalia's parents."

The hunter nodded slowly. This was a wave boss then. One of the monsters he was summoned to kill to protect this world.

But, if the wave boss didn't die then how did the wave end?

He couldn't worry about that now. Lance turned to Rifana, "Go back outside if you feel you need to, I still need to kill it."

This time, Rifana didn't object, she only nodded and started to back up from the cavern opening. Only to stop when her ear twitched, "T-there's something back the way we came in." She informed him quietly.

A quick check of the long range motion radar confirmed it, making the hunter curse. He looked back in the cavern and locked his eyes onto the stairway up to the small passage, "Up there then. It should be too small for the monsters to get through."

The girl nodded and the two of them slowly made their way into the room, practically hugging the wall as they made their way around it. Rifana didn't take her scared eyes off of Cerberus, in fear that it would wake up, while Lance kept his senses open for other threats.

Slowly but surely, they made it to the ancient staircase. The steps looked just as old as everything else. That along with the fact that they were not secured to the floor, only the wall, made the hunter want to rethink his decision. They were there though, so they continued.

"Head up there quickly, but be quiet." The hunter told Rifana, "You don't want to attract any unwanted attention."

She nodded before stuttering an apology, "I-I'm sorry for making you come h-here only for me to l-leave. If I h-had known it was this monster I-I wouldn't have suggested it in the first place, but I just can't fight it-"

"It's fine," Lance interrupted, "Your safety and peace of mind comes first, so do what you need to." He thought for a second before saying, "Go with her Shade."

The Ghost reacted instantly, 'What!? Are you crazy, what if you d-'

"I'll be fine," The hunter interrupted, "You can be more use to her right now, just keep her updated on anything in her surroundings."

Shade sighed after a second before appearing and floating over to Rifana, "Fine, but be careful and don't be an idiot."

The hunter just nodded and turned to the weasel girl, "Now go, I shouldn't be long."

She nodded and started to move up, until she froze at the howl. Lance looked at the origin, a Spawn of Cerberus coming from the tunnel they entered. Its howl was followed by many others echoing around the cave as more hellhounds appeared from the ground entrances.

"Go!" The hunter shouted causing Rifana to move again, this time in a run up the stairs. Shade was close behind. The stairs cracked under her weight and shattered shortly after, making her run up quicker.

It seems that the stairs were just as old as he thought.

She made it to the top though, looking back down on Lance before heading into the tunnel.

The hunter's attention was fully on the army hellhounds and, more importantly, the now standing Cerberus. All three of its heads stared at him with a mix of curiosity and hunger, but it didn't attack. It instead barked.

Apparently that was a signal.

The hellhounds charged Lance in a frenzy, ready to tear down the man in front of them. The hunter was faster though.

A quick flick of his wrist, one faster than the Legendary Bow's weapon violation rule could activate, a small object flew from the hunter's hand and onto the ground in front of him. It exploded into a wall of void energy making a trail of purple flames appear.

The hellhounds that touched it didn't survive, only fade into purple particles. This made the others pause in front of the flames, not wanting to cross them. Lance took advantage of their pause.

With his bow in Le Monarque form pointed forward, he fired into the thick crowd of dogs. A cloud of poison settled over them, causing them to choke and fall over, dead.

Arrow after arrow was fired into the crowd, but it didn't seem to thin. Each monster killed was replaced by another one. At first he wondered why there were so many, but he realized that the Cerberus had more than a month to spawn them. An army that was expendable and easy to increase.

Speaking of the three headed dog though, it only watched the massacre and hellhounds flooding into the chamber.

Maybe it wanted to kill him with numbers rather than fight the hunter himself. That wouldn't work though, not with a Guardian.

Lance dashed forward, throwing a smoke bomb in front of a close hellhound. The smoke dazed the dog and allowed the hunter to plant a foot onto its head and launch himself up, making the dog's head cave in.

Every pair of eyes in the room tracked his form flying up, the hunter kicking off air to go higher. At the peak of the launch though, Lance's body stilled. Not freezing up, but instead staying in one spot in the air.

Cerberus and the hellhounds found out why a second later.

The hunter's body erupted in purple flames as the bow in his hands disappeared, reappearing on his back. His hand was outstretched into the open air, only to grab nothing.

The nothing responded.

A new bow appeared in his hand, one that looked to be made out of the same purple flames that covered Lance's body. His other hand held an arrow made of the same flames, an arrow that was currently being drawn back. The air around the bow and arrow was silent and empty. Not even the release and the inevitable impact made noise. But it did do something else.

At the point of the arrow's impact, a now disintegrated hellhound, a glowing purple ball was left behind. From this ball, several tendrils of purple energy lashed out and latched onto the nearby dogs, including Cerberus itself.

The effect was instantaneous.

All of the tethered monsters stopped moving, their legs collapsed underneath them. Their eyes lost their glow as they didn't make a sound. Not even a growl. The only sound in the chamber was Lance's feet landing back onto the ground, Legendary Bow back in hand.

One swift arrow was nocked and fired at the nearest bound hellhound, killing it and making it burst with purple energy, starting a chain reaction. The tethered hellhound closest to the one killed also burst with energy, so did the one after that, and the one after that. It chained until they all burst, all except Cerberus himself.

When the chain reached the monster, a pop up appeared instead.

_[Alert! At Death's Door Activated!]_

_[You Have Not Been Invited]_

… What?

The menu responded as Cerberus, the only monster left, got up, untethered.

_[At Death's Door - Cerberus Unique Wave Survival Bonus - No Damage C-]_

Lance ducked underneath a swipe made by the large monster's paw before backpedaling and shooting it directly.

_[Alert! At Death's Door Activated!]_

_[You Have Not Been Invited]_

"What is it with that?" The hunter grumbled under his breath while dodging another strike ment for him. The pop up appeared again, but he ignored it for now and ran to the ruined temple.

The monster followed with haste.

Each step the Cerberus took shook the ground and caused rocks to fall and, when it was close enough to the temple, walls to collapse.

The hunter dodged and slid past falling walls and collapsing parts of the roof. Cerberus couldn't follow as the hunter went into the building, providing cover for the hunter.

Said hunter turned his eyes to the alert that had laid ignored in his vision.

_[At Death's Door - Cerberus Unique Wave Survival Bonus - No Damage Can Be Dealt To This Monster Unless The Attacker Is Below 25% Health]_

"What kind of dumb rule is that?" Lance spoke in equal parts curiosity and frustration.

He had to think of a game plan then. If he couldn't hurt the monster, then maybe the surroundings could. He could probably get the pillars of the temple to fall onto the monster.

Granted that they didn't break before then.

But would that work? Would it count as his own damage if he was the one that caused them to fall? Only one way to test it.

Lance peered around the corner he was at and looked at Cerberus and his surroundings. There was one pillar close enough to it.

The hunter carefully eyed the structure before readying his right hand at his belt. After a second of lining up, he swiftly moved his right hand, a grenade now in it, and tossed the object into the air. An arrow was nocked and swiftly fired at the grenade, piercing it and dragging it along the arrow's path. The end of it being the stone pillar.

Hitting the target square on, the arrow detonated, causing the pillar, easily twice the monster's size, to fall onto the surprised Cerberus.

And do no damage.

_[Alert! At Death's Door Activated!]_

"Oh come on!" Lance exclaimed, trying to think of something else he could do to hurt this monster. The only thing he could think of, that wasn't suicidal, though was dealing the damage to himself. That was too risky though, if he did it wro-

_[Alert! Party Member (Rifana) Has Dropped Below 25% Health!]_

Lance's eyes darted to the right side of his vision and noticed that, yes, Rifana's health had dropped quite low. To about 21% of her total.

… Screw risky.

He slightly pulled back the string on his Le Monarque, summoning the arrow. Instead of firing the poison arrow though, he took it into his hand.

And stabbed his own leg.

Hard.

He hissed in pain as the arrow broke past his armor and made his health crash from a golden 100% down to around 47%. Then the poison activated, draining another 27% and leaving him at 20% before he pulled the arrow out.

_[Alert! At Death's Door Activated!]_

_[You Have Been Cordially Invited]_

Cerberus seemed to know what was happening as the monster slammed against the temple's wall, causing the room to shake and the temple to collapse even further.

Lance didn't waste any time though, sliding past fallen debris and running straight to the monster while trying to get a clear shot past the new rubble. Only when he was literally next to the monster was he able to have a clear line of sight. He nocked an arrow, and fired.

_[Alert! No Easy Way Out Activated!]_

"You've got to be kiddi-"

The large leg of the Cerberus slammed into his stomach, sending him flying into the cavern wall across the room.

He didn't lose any health, strangely enough, but that didn't stop the hunter from feeling dazed by the impact. The monster closed in fast, aiming its snapping middle jaws at Lance's throat.

It never made it though.

_BOOM!_

Like a crack of thunder, the familiar sound of a sniper rang through the cavernous space. Cerberus's far left head snapped back in pain from a large force and its health, for the first time today, dropped. Even if it was only by a sixth of its health.

Lance took advantage though, raising his bow and releasing another arrow in hope that the monster would now take damage.

It did.

In fact, the health bar instantly hit zero, making the monster fall and the chamber fall silent. Silent until a familiar voice called out to him from above.

"Lance!" The mechanical voice was that of Shade, who was floating in the doorway he and Rifana had gone through, "You need to find a way up here quick!"

**(Rifana - Earlier)**

Her thoughts raced as she ran through the dark tunnel, 'I'm an idiot! I'm an idiot!' She mentally yelled at herself, 'I shouldn't have come down here. I shouldn't have dragged Lance down here for no reason.'

She gripped the gun in her hands tighter, 'And now I'm running away and leaving him alone. Like a coward.'

She stopped running and idaly noticed her surroundings. The room looked a lot like the rest of the cave, grey stone with a cobbled floor. Man made no doubt. Along with this though, the room had racks of old, rusted weapons. Dull swords to rotting bows were laid on the racks. There was even a piece of armor or two, but they were too deteriorated to be of any use.

"I'm a coward…" She spoke in a whisper, ashamed of herself for leaving the Bow Hero alone with the boss.

"Not necessarily." A familiar voice said, making Rifana jump as she forgot Shade was even there. She quickly spoke back though.

"Of course I am. I left Lance after being the one to bring us here. All because I was scared." She softly said the last part, tears threatening to come out of her eyes.

"And it's alright to be scared." The black construct retorted, "Besides, he will be fine. He always is."

She knew that, but that wasn't the point, "I was the one that brought us down here though!" She exclaimed, "As soon as it got difficult, I ran! That's why I'm a coward!"

"Lance would have come either way." The Ghost stated, "He's a Guardian, it's what he does."

"Even if it kills him?" The girl asked rhetorically.

"Yes." Shade put simply, "Even if it kills h..." The Ghost went silent.

Rifana went from her mix of anger and shame to worried, "Shade?"

"Around us." He stated quickly, "Something's coming."

That got her to raise her rifle, hesitantly. She scanned the entrances to the room she was in. There were two, the one she came from and the one in front of her. The way she came had no other entrances or branches, so nothing could have followed her through. In front of her though…

Glowing eyes cut through the darkness. At least five pairs of them, maybe more. The monsters that they belonged to emitted low growls as they stalked forward. They all had the same name floating above their heads.

'Spawn of Cerberus' - Level 15.

They had all filtered into the room and stopped. She was right, there were five of them. They looked at the girl with hungry eyes, their hind legs tensed in preparation to lunge. Rifana pointed her rifle at them, eyes locked down sights.

The monsters made the first move.

Out of the five, the middle one lunged first. It didn't make it far though as Rifana quickly fired four rounds at it. Only three of them hit though, the last one in the head.

One down, four to go.

"To your left!" Shade called out, making her turn and duck down as a hellhound flew over her head and hit the wall with a yelp. Another one had followed behind it though, this one managing to land a swipe of its claws on her jacket, tearing it, before she put it down with three shots.

Two down, three to go.

She had to back up as another pounced, making it land in the spot she was at and allowing her to put a round in it. Only one though as the last hellhound shoved her to the ground, making her health drop lower and causing her to miss two shots.

That dog didn't make it far though as more shots were fired into it, three to be exact. It died.

Three down, two to go.

The hound that had slammed into the wall was back up, evident by the fact that it tried to pounce on her downed figure. It died to three more shots before it could get a chance to.

One left.

She scrambled to her feet and locked onto the injured hellhound. Its back leg was injured, making it move in a slight limp. It still moved towards her. She pulled the trigger.

_Click._

Nothing happened, nothing except the click of her gun running empty.

"Oh no." She stated in a panic, reaching for a new clip of ammunition. The hellhound took its chance first though.

Once again, she was pushed to the ground. Rifana was unable to keep a hold of her gun though. It flew from her hands and landed in a pile of old weapons next to her, knocking them over.

"Rifana!" Shade shouted, unable to do anything to help the trapped girl.

She struggled under the monster's grip, yelling out in pain as it bit her arm. Her health dropped further, down to 21%.

Using all of her strength, she kicked the monster off and scrambled to her feet. The hellhound recovered fast though and moved to pin her down again. Only to get smacked in the face by the only thing Rifana found that was still sharp.

Or, at least in usable condition.

It was a spear. No, that was the wrong word for it. It was a staff, both sides pointed with an edge. It somehow managed to keep its green-ish blue color, maybe it had something to do with the little bit of magical energy in it.

Rifana held it clumsily with both hands, not used to melee weapons of any sort, and pointed it at the hellhound. Said hound ran for her again. It had forgotten about its own leg though, causing it to stumble.

That was all Rifana needed.

With a yell she thrusted the staff forward and proved the edge true by piercing the hellhound's skull, killing it instantly.

The room was silent, save for the girl's heavy breathing.

"... Rifana? Are you ok?" Shade broke the silence.

"Yeah." She responded after a second, "I thi-"

_[Alert! Party Member (Lance Nightshade) Has Dropped Below 25% Health!]_

She shot up in surprise, which quickly turned to panic, "We need to get back to Lance!" She exclaimed, picking up No Feelings and running down the tunnel they came in.

"Wait, Rifana!" Shade yelled at her only to be ignored. He sighed and followed.

It took no time for them to reach the main chamber again, allowing them to see the completely crumbled temple and, more importantly, the Cerberus smacking Lance across the room.

"Lance!" Both Rifana and the Ghost yelled at the same time, "We have to do something!" The girl exclaimed.

"I don't kn-" Shade started to say before cutting himself off, "No wait, Rifana take this."

The spear and scout rifle in the girl's hands were suddenly replaced with a longer rifle. One covered in thin ropes and beads.

"What is-" Rifana began to ask before being interrupted.

"No time! Just lay down and use that thing to shoot the boss monster, as quickly as you can!" The Ghost exclaimed in a hurry.

She followed orders and layed on her stomach, using the boxy sight to line up a shot. The monster was running now, straight at Lance. She picked the biggest target, one of its heads, and fired.

_BOOM!_

The sound of thunder roared next to her sensitive ears, causing her to release a surprised and pained yell. Her ears rang, even when the monster fell over dead and she gained two levels, reaching level 17.

She barely heard Shade call out to Lance, but she did notice Lance climb up the side of the platform they were on.

Somehow.

"Rifana." She barely heard her name being said, the world still ringing. Turning, she saw that it was Lance that said it, "Can you hear me."

"Barely." She spoke, her own voice muffled to her.

Even muffled, she could hear his chuckle, "Good, let's get out of here then."

The sniper disappeared in a flash of light before the hunter picked her up. Her face turned red in response, but she didn't argue as she could feel her injuries catch up with her.

And she liked it, but she wouldn't tell him that.

Her face lost its redness after feeling his leg limp slightly, "... I'm sorry." She said, now being able to hear herself a little clearly.

"For what?" Lance asked curiously.

"You know what." She retorted, "I'm sorry for forcing you down here with me. You got hurt because of it, because of me."

"Don't blame yourself for me being stupid." He responded instantly, "I would have come down here anyway, you didn't force me to come."

"Still," Rifana spoke, "I should have stayed with you and not run away. I want to fight by your side."

Lance paused at that, "You want to fight up front with me?"

"Yes." She responded simply, "I want to be useful instead of someone who runs away."

The hunter was silent at her statement, silent enough to make her nervous.

"We should double up your training then." He finally spoke, making her smile.

She was looking forward to it.

**(End)**

**Chapter 7 - The Wave of Darkness - March 23**


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer - I do not own the Destiny franchise or The Rising of the Shield Hero

**Chapter 7 - The Wave of Darkness**

Melromarc was the same as Lance remembered it. The streets were still filled and business was going on as usual. The hunter didn't expect anything to be different though. It was a big city and nothing major had happened since he left.

The town did seem to be on edge though. Maybe it was about the next Wave. He couldn't tell.

It had been a week since the Cerberus incident and he wasn't kidding when he said he would step up Rifana's training.

She's level 40 now, and her body grew to match. Standing just under his height, she looked to be around the age of 20, though she was only 10. She wore much the same, but there were a few differences. Hunter grade armor plates adorned her black leggings as well as the arms of her black, Earth made jacket. Her tan combat boots were sturdy and armored enough as it was, so they didn't change. Some armored plates were put on her shirt though, mainly on her… assets.

That was one reason they had come to town. To be frank, she needed a bra and other womens underwear. They had already made that stop though.

They stopped by the magic shop as well and found that Rifana's affinities included wind and lightning magics. They bought grimoires for each and moved to find their next goal. One that was proving a tiny bit difficult considering what he was trying to find.

But with the help of one of the guards, one of the many he asked, he finally had a start.

"Have you seen one of the other heroes?" This was Lance's question, the one he had been asking for half the day.

The hunter was just glad when the guard perked up, "Yeah actually, I saw Sir Motoyasu and Sir Ren going to the church about an hour ago."

Rifana sighed in relief, "Finally." She groaned softly.

Lance ignored her, "Thank you." He replied before asking, "The church is on the end of the street, next the the entrance to the upper district, right?"

The guard nodded, "That's right. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get back to my post. Have a good day Sir Hero."

The hunter nodded to him before walking away, Rifana following behind.

"Why do you need to see one of the other heroes anyway?" A curious Rifana asked while falling into place beside him. She carried No Feelings in her hands as usual, but on her back there were the new additions of Tranquility and her magic steel spear.

Well, it was more of a double bladed polearm, but that's besides the point.

"It's about the star next to your level," Lance commented in response, "I wanted to ask one of the other heros about it in case they knew what it was."

That seemed to satisfy her, at least a little bit. She, like him, had realized the problem quickly after it appeared. Once she had hit level 40, a small yellow star appeared next to her name. That wouldn't have concerned any of them very much if it wasn't for one small problem.

She stopped gaining EXP.

Not finding anything in the help menu about it, it was proving to be not much of a help at all, Shade came up with the idea to ask the other heroes about it.

So, there they were.

The church was… huge, to say the least. The doorway itself was big enough for a drake tank to drive through. Three large towers were the main attraction as they were positioned at the front of the church on the left side, the right side, and above the middle doorway. The towers themselves looked like several triangles stacked on top of each other in such a way that they looked ready to fall at any minute. There was a large, cathedral style dome in the back of the church.

"Wow." Was all Rifana said as she took in the sight.

Lance, on the other hand, didn't react too strongly to the sight. He had seen more impressive structures after all. Most weren't human made though.

The look inside the church was grand as well, all of the windows being made of large stained glass, but again, the hunter wasn't there to admire the scenery.

As they walked through the halls, a few nuns stopped and bowed their heads at him. It made him feel uncomfortable, but it didn't show.

One nun, however, spoke to him when she stopped, "Sir Hero, to what do I owe the pleasure of you being here today?" She spoke in a curious but respectful voice.

"I heard word that Motoyasu and Ren were here." Lance answered simply, "I wanted to speak with them."

The woman nodded, "You heard correct. Sir Ren has already left, but Sir Motoyasu is at the Dragon Hourglass."

'Dragon Hourglass?' Shade stated in surprise, 'That's here?'

"Can you lead me there?" The hunter asked the holy woman.

She smiled in response, "Of course Sir Hero. Follow me."

Lance and Rifana followed the woman through the maze of halls within the church. Every window in the place was made of stained glass while the floor was made of marble. It must have been expensive.

A sudden thought occured to the hunter as he walked.

How would Motoyasu react to seeing him again?

The last time they talked was during the rigged trial, and that didn't exactly go well. Maybe it was a bad idea to talk to Motoyasu after that. It was too late to turn back now though.

It didn't take long for them to get to a set of large doors, doors that were currently open a crack. The woman bowed her head and left, allowing Lance to push open the doors and enter with Rifana close behind.

The room was taller than it was large. There were several pillars around the room that acted as structural support for the dome roof. The room itself was in the shape of an octagon, four of the room's eight sides were made of glass to allow light in.

The center of the room is what stood out though. A circular platform laid in the center of the room, a set of stairs leading up to it. On the platform, the Dragon Hourglass stood tall. The hourglass itself was made out of five glass spheres, the center being the smallest and the ones on the top and bottom being the biggest. Most of the sand laid in the bottom of the hourglass. Time was almost up it seemed. As for the structure holding the hour glass, it was made of solid gold with two large rubies. The golden structure was forged to look like two dragons flying up wind currents.

"Woah." Lance, Shade, and Rifana all echoed, the ghost talking inside Lance's head.

"Lance? Is that you?" A man to their right spoke, making them turn.

It was Motoyasu, that much was easy to tell. His hair was still style the same, the golden locks tied into a ponytail, but his armor had completely changed. His boots were made out of solid steel that covered not only his feet but also most of his legs up to his knees. His shoulders were covered in the same kind of steel, forming pauldrons that connected to a piece of metal that went around his neck and connected to his chestplate. Said chestplate was made out of a type of chainmail that looked more solid than normal chainmail. It was the color of steel. Underneath the chainmail was red fabric formed as body armor even though it didn't provide protection. Covering his hands were a set of steel gauntlets with joints around the fingers that allowed them to move smoothly. Lastly, a red cape that went down to his ankles covered his back. Behind him were four women.

One of the women had light purple-red hair that was braided and pushed over her shoulder. She wore a dark purple sleeveless shirt with light purple cloth crossing over it over her chest. On her left arm there was a golden band. Her wrists were covered by black bracers. A purple dress like fabric covered her waist, but it had a cut on the side that exposed her leg. Her shoes were open toed but they covered her ankles.

The woman next to her wore dark green robes that covered most of her body. The only parts not green were the sleeves, those were white. A red bow was around her collar. Her boots were simple as they were made out of brown leather. On her head was a green witch's hat with a red band, one that you would commonly see in a child's storybook. She was holding a long, wooden staff by her side.

The next woman in line was standing straighter than the rest. She was also clad in black, but this armor looked more protective in the way of leather. A corset covered her abdomen. Golden accents were placed around the armor in a few places, the most noticeable one being the bow around her neck. She wore full covering leggings made of black leather, and her boots were slim and black. A simple looking sword hung on her waist.

The last woman there, Lance roconized. It was Myne, the supposed rape victim. Lance didn't believe that claim though. Why should he, she was still wearing the armor Naofumi gave her.

"It is you, isn't it?" Motoyasu spoke again, smiling, "I haven't seen you in a long time man. What have you been up to?"

… Well, no mention of the trial. That was a good sign.

"Hello Motoyasu," Lance responded, "It has been a while, hasn't it?"

Motoyasu chuckled, "You got that right."

Rifana shuffled awkwardly, not knowing what to do while the two heroes were talking. Coincidentally, Motoyasu noticed the movement.

The Spear Hero flashed a shiny smile at Rifana before addressing Lance, "And who's this cut…" He noticed the scout rifle in her hands.

"This is Rifana." Lance answered, ignoring Motoyasu's pause, "She's my party member. That reminds me, do you happen to know wh-"

"Sorry to interrupt," Interrupted Motoyasu, "But why does she have a gun?" He then shook his head, "No, where did she get one?"

Rifana looked startled at the suddenness of his words, her grip on No Feelings tightening slightly, while Motoyasu's party members were confused at his behavior.

Lance shared none of that, "I gave it to her." He answered calmly, "It's the only thing I can confidently train people how to use."

The Spear Hero looked at him with confusion, "You're telling me you're just carrying around a couple of guns?" The hunter nodded, "Where do you even kee-" He interrupted himself, "No, wait. You're from the far future, you have one of those data materialization things don't you?"

Now everyone native to the world looked confused, "If that's what you want to call it, then yes." Lance answered, "My arsenal is stored as data waiting for me to call it out."

'It's a lot more complicated than that.' Shade muttered.

Motoyasu accepted the answer with a chuckle and a smile, going back to his normal self, "That's pretty cool." His eyes focused on the weapons on her back, specifically the polearm, "I see that she's using a spear too." He flashed a smile, "If you ever want, I can show you a thing or two."

Before Rifana could answer, Lance spoke up, "It's more of a double bladed polearm actually."

The Spear Hero shrugged, "Tomato, tomato. So," He turned back to the hunter, "You wanted to ask me something?"

Back to the topic, "Yes I did. I wanted to know if you knew why there's a star next to Rifana's name?"

A look of surprise appeared on Motoyasu's, and his party's, face, "Woah, you got to level 40 quickly."

That surprised Lance and his ghost, not to mention Rifana, "How did you get her level from that?" The hunter asked a little cautiously.

The Spear Hero gained a confused look before it turned into one of realization, "Oh, that's right. You don't know much about this world do you?"

"No," Lance confirmed, "But what does that have to do with this?"

Motoyasu just smiled, walking over to the hunter and throwing an arm over his shoulder, "All right, let Big Bro Motoyasu catch you up." The contact was a little weird to the hunter, but he allowed it in hopes of useful information.

"When you reach level 40," Motoyasu continued, "You can go to the Dragon Hourglass and Class Up. That's what that star means."

The hunter nodded along, "So you need this 'Class Up' to gain more levels?"

The Spear Hero nodded with a smile, "Exactly, but there's more reason to class up than just that. Classing Up gives you a specific upgrade path for your style."

Lance raised an unseen eyebrow, "What do you mean by that?"

"Alright," Motoyasu started, "Say that your a mage who likes to play with fire more than any other element. You would want to focus on that right?" The hunter nodded, "Classing up will give you the choice to go the Pyromancer route, giving you more fire based spells and letting you do more damage with fire. You get what I mean?"

"Yeah, I think I do." The hunter confirmed, "Classing up gives you more options for a specialized path."

"Exactly." The Spear Hero stated while snapping his fingers, "All you have to do is step up to the Dragon Hourglass and it should give you the options."

Lance nodded again, "Thank you for the assistance Motoyasu."

The said hero took his arm off the Bow Hero's shoulder, "No problem man." He then gained an excited look, "Now go on, I want to see if having a gun will give her more choices."

"Excuse me, Sir Motoyasu." Myne suddenly spoke out, "While I don't want to interrupt you, it's almost time for your audience with the king. He did want to see you today."

The Spear Hero smacked his forehead, "I almost forgot, thanks Myne." He said before turning to Lance, "The king wanted to see me today. I think he wants to discuss things before the Wave hits, I dunno." He moved back to his party as they headed to the door of the room, "Talk to you after the Wave man."

He exited the room quickly, waving at the hunter and shooting Rifana a bright smile. Though only Lance seemed to notice the look Myne gave the demi-human.

He still didn't like her.

The door closed loudly and the room was left in silence. Until Rifana spoke, "So I have to class up to get more levels? That's… interesting."

"We should go ahead and do that," Lance responded, "We don't know when we'll be back here."

The girl nodded before making her way to the hourglass, only to stop when Shade spoke up, 'Let me scan the hourglass first, just to be safe.'

The hunter hesitated before nodding, "Alright, but if someone is about to enter the room, stop your scan and hide. I don't want to take chances with the people in this kingdom, even if they are the church."

A flash of light signaled the ghost's appearance in the room, "Got it, just make sure to keep an ear on the door."

Rifana took that initiative, nodding and going to the door to listen for anything outside of it. Shade and his Guardian on the other hand moved up the small staircase to the Dragon Hourglass. The ghost immediately set to work, sending a beam of light to the hourglass to scan it.

Lance merely observed it, trusting Rifana to handle lookout. He didn't know the logistics of an hourglass, he never needed to know, so he couldn't tell how long it would take until all of the sand reached the bottom. Cornelius would know in an instant though, that Warlock was pretty smart after all.

Maybe Shade could make a timer though. That would be handy.

"Shade," The hunter started, "would you be able to make a timer for the next Wave based on the sand?"

The ghost didn't stop his scan, "I don't think I need to."

Lance, and Rifana, raised an eyebrow in question, "Why is that?"

"Give me a second." Shade stated, "... And there."

As he said it, a timer appeared underneath the hunter's shield meter in his helmet.

00:19:07:42

Nineteen hours, seven minutes, and forty-two seconds until the Wave. That was a lot sooner that Lance thought.

"It's one of the functions I've pulled out of the scan so far." Shade clarified, "There is a lot here, but the only one important enough to copy would be the Class Upgrade method." The beam disappeared as the ghost pulled away from the Dragon Hourglass, "Done. Come here Rifana, let's get you your Class Up."

Rifana nodded and moved over to the ghost, "So I don't need the Dragon Hourglass to get a class up?"

Lance took the girl's place as lookout while the two talked, "Yep, I should just be able to give you the option." Shade confirmed, "Here."

Rifana nearly jumped at something only she could see, before she started looking around in the air in front of her, "Woah, that's a lot of choices."

Shade nodded(?), "If I'm right, there should be more than normal. Well, that's if the Light is interfering."

"What kind of choices do you have?" Lance asked, curious.

"Well," Rifana started, "I can see some options for wind magic, like being able to create tornadoes. There's also some rifle options, like being able to turn my bullets into," She squinted at some text before speaking slowly, "Linear Fusion rifle rounds."

"That's not great for quick combat, I assure you." The hunter told her, getting her to nod.

"There's so many choices," The girl stated, "I don't know what to…" Her eyes lock on to something, "That could work." She muttered before pressing the option.

The change was immediate. Her stats nearly doubled while the star next to her name disappeared. What Lance noticed though, was the symbol change next to her name.

Next to both of their names was a little symbol. Lance had a bow that was nocked and facing up, the symbol used by Shaxx to show that a Nightstalker was on the enemy team. Rifana used to have a picture of a cartoon weasel head, but now it was different. It was a polearm that was pointed on both ends with a four leaf clover like saw blade in the middle of it.

That was the symbol Shaxx used to show an Arcstrider.

She was an Arcstrider?

"Rifana, what did you choose?" Lance asked hesitantly.

Rifana turned to him, "It was called Lightning Enchanter I believe. It should allow me to infuse lightning into my weapons without a spell. It should have also upped my Dexterity more than my other stats."

"She's right." Shade stated moving over to Lance, Rifana doing the same, "All of her stats doubled except for her Dexterity. That nearly tripled."

Rifana tilted her head at Lance, "Why did you want to know?"

"The symbol next to your name changed." Lance answered, "It just reminds me of something."

The girl nodded slowly before smiling and heading to the door, "Come on, I want to see what it can do before the Wave."

Shade disappeared as the hunter nodded, prompting them to open the large doors and leave.

**(The Next Day - 00:00:00:31 Before Wave)**

The two of them stood on the city wall, overlooking the plains below.

"You ready Rifana?" Lance asked his companion.

"Yep." She responded happily, patting the side of No Feelings, "Weapons clean and loaded."

The timer ticked down to 17 seconds as Lance spotted Ren out in the fields with his party. He wore different armor, but the hunter couldn't find time to worry about it.

9 seconds hit as Lance idaly noticed Motoyasu and his through a window in the inn closest to the wall. He seemed to be having fun, laughing as Myne hung off of his arm.

Only at 1 second did he notice Naofumi, sporting a green cloak rimmed with white fur. He was with a brown haired demi-human. A tanuki if he was right. That was all he noticed though, as the the sky turned a dark red and the area around him started to glow.

'You're being pulled somewhere!' Shade exclaimed, 'I don't know where!'

The hunter couldn't respond, the light having engulfed him and Rifana. They didn't have to worry though. Appearing at the edge of a cliff, the first thing they noticed was the sky.

Spirals of colored energy drifted through the sky like they were on ocean currents, "There it is." Rifana stated simply, "The Wave of Catastrophe."

Monsters started to flow out of the rifts, mostly large bees by the look of it but there were also some humanoid figures dropping from it too. They were too far away to get a good shot on though.

"Let's go." Stated Lance, moving to the edge of the cliff and judging the distance to the ground. A smoking projectile in the corner of his vision made him stop though.

"Look!" Rifana exclaimed, pointing to the object, "It came from that village!"

'It's a flare.' Shade stated, 'They weren't able to evacuate.'

"No time to waste then!" Lance ran over to Rifana, picking her up and running to the cliff edge. At first, she seemed to be embarrassed, but then she saw what he was doing.

"What are you-" She didn't finish as the hunter jumped off of the cliff in the direction of the spotted village, causing her to scream. Just before they hit the ground though, Lance kicked off air, stopping their fall short and landing softly.

"Don't do that!" She exclaimed as he put her down.

"Sorry," The hunter apologized, "It was the fastest way down."

She pouted before they started making their way to the village. Nothing was in the forest, all of the monsters seemingly attracted to the town nearby. They quickly broke through the treeline and into the village where the monsters awaited.

They saw a group of villagers, all carrying a mix of pitchforks and pickaxes. They were in front of a crowd of zombie like monsters clad in armor. The villagers were backing up slowly, their faces showing signs of fear at seeing the monsters.

That was until the first zombie went down.

With a bark for gunfire, Rifana picked off the zombies quickly and cleanly, not one bullet wasted. She was even moving while shooting, her aim more steady than the week prior. That didn't mean Lance was docile though.

Getting to the villagers first, he kicked the leading zombie's chest and made it cave in. It went down as the hunter dropped a voidwall grenade at his feet, forming a wall between him and the villagers.

"It's one of the heroes!" He heard one of them say.

"The Bow Hero is here!" Another one staed.

"Get out of here!" Lance yelled, "We'll keep them off of your backs!"

The people listened and retreated, this group of zombies having fallen to gunfire.

Without so much as a word between them, Lance and Rifana moved side by side through the village. She shot down bees from the sky while he kept the ground forces away from them, all while moving.

"H-help!" A voice shouted nearby.

Without missing a beat, Lance sharply turned and shot the head off a zombie that was enclosing on a woman. Said woman didn't stop to thank them and ran in the general direction of everyone else.

'Now this is weird.' Shade stated out of nowhere.

"What is?" Lance questioned while putting an arrow through the abdomen of a flying bee.

'There's a large concentration of monsters in the center of town,' The ghost clarified, 'By the watchtower.'

"Let's get there then." The hunter stated simply, turning his attention to the watchtower in the distance.

"S-stay away!" Was what Lance heard as he got closer to a group of zombies and bees. In the middle he could see two men, both holding swords as they tried to fend off the attackers. There were too many for them though.

"Rifana," Lance stated to his partner, "Get in close."

She nodded, understanding. Her scout rifle was quickly placed on her back in favor of the polearm. Gripping it, she dashed forward and started the dance.

Well, not an actual dance, but it was like one.

The clumsiness from the previous week gone, Rifana dance with the pole, creating a series of arks and stabs that all flowed together. Destruction was carved among the enemy ranks, but Lance didn't stop to look. His target was in the center of town.

A loud bell suddenly rang from the central watchtower, dragging the attention of all the nearby monsters, 'Somebody's up there!?' Shade shouted in question.

He didn't need an answer, so the hunter didn't give one. Instead, he quickened his pace until he saw it. A huge mass of monsters, more than a hundred, were stationed at the bottom of the tower, trying to climb it.

In that tower though, was a familiar face carrying a torch.

"Naofumi!" Lance exclaimed, going unheard from the noise of the monsters.

He had a new set of armor, a mix of greens and browns. His boots were made of tan leathers that went up to his knees and had a wool ring on the top. His pants were dark green, held to his frame by a leather belt with a silver buckle. On his thighs were two large leather plates that were placed on top of white wool. He had a black long sleeved shirt on, but that was mostly covered up by the brown leather chestplate covering his torso. On top of that was a metal plate big enough to cover his chest. Fixed to the metal plate was a small latch that attached a green cloak with a wool rim to his armor.

His hair was still the same, black and messy, but his eyes were different. They were tired, no, scornful. It was like he was angry at the world.

Lance didn't have time to think on that though.

He stopped and quickly placed the Legendary Bow on his back, allowing him to grip the nothingness in front of him. The familiar form of his Void bow appeared in his grasp, light the world around him in dangerous purple flames. That was when the Shield Hero noticed him, a surprised look appearing on his face.

Lance didn't focus on that though, firing his shadowshot landed in the middle of the large group of enemies, tethering most of them and causing them to fall in a heap.

Lance didn't stop there though, pulling back the Void string a second time to summon another arrow. This one hit a zombie directly, starting a familiar chain reaction to mow down the enemy force. Quickly, the enemy was gone.

But not for long, as more fell from the sky.

'Lance.' The familiar voice of Rifana came over his comms, 'I'm heading to you.'

"Negative." Lance responded, watching Naofumi make his way to the hunter, "Search for more survivors and lead them to the rest."

She responded after a second's hesitation, 'Roger.' There was hesitation in her voice, 'I'll meet up with you soon.'

"Lance!" Exclaimed Naofumi, now standing near the hunter with a mix of surprise and mild anger on his face, "What are doing here?"

"Fight now, talk later." Lance stated simply, his bow now back in hand in Le Monarque form. The Shield Hero nodded, seeing that the hunter was right.

"Sir Hero!" A man shouted, running to them. Specifically Naofumi.

Said hero turned to the man, "Why'd you come back here?" He questioned the man.

"We all changed our minds after seeing how courageously you two are fighting." The man said to Naofumi, directing his and Lance's attention to a group of people on the side.

They all carried weapons from spears to pitchforks, "This village is our home." The man continued, "We cannot run away and abandon it. We'll fight with you."

Surprisingly, Naofumi turned to Lance with a raised eyebrow, prompting the hunter to speak, "They got the spirit." He said while shrugging, taking aim and firing at a large, lumbering zombie that was making its way to them..

Naofumi turned back to the villager, "Got it. Help me and Lance keep the enemy pinned down until the evacuation's complete."

Two more of the lumbering behemoths made it to the group, raising their axes to strike two villagers. The heroes were faster though.

Lance took aim and fired an arrow at the one further away, killing without problem, while Naofumi shielded the strike from the other.

Just as the hunter was about to fire at the behemoth, a new voice called out, "Naofumi-sama!"

The monster raised his axe and brought it down on Naofumi's shield again, covering the area with dust, "Take care of it!" Said hero called out to the newcomer.

Out of the smoke, Naofumi jumped and slammed his shield into the face of the monster. A second later, flashes of a sword were seen and the monster fell apart. The cause was crouched on the ground, sheathing her sword.

It was a young girl, around 17 or so. She had long brown hair going about her waist. She wore a simple long sleeved, dress like tunic covered by a red and black dress like tunic that laced up in the middle. Her feet and most of her legs were covered by tall, laced up boots. A metal cuff was around her neck with matching cuffs around her wrists. On top of her head were a set of tanuki ears. Behind her was a tail of the same species.

"Well done." Was all Naofumi said in response to the attack.

'Well done?' Shade said, 'That was both fast and deadly. I say that was great.' Apparently, the villagers agreed.

"A-amazing." One of them said.

The girl turned to them, "We'll handle things here. Hurry up and evacuate."

"Got it." The leader responded with a nod, "Please be safe." The hurried off.

"Well then," Naofumi stated, "The enemy's numbers aren't going down. What now?" He turned to the both of them at the last part.

Lance nocked an arrow, "We fight until the othe-"

He was interrupted by several large fireballs launching into the air around the village. They all quickly reach the peak of their journey, colliding into one and falling down like rain made of fire.

'Oh shi-' Shade exclaimed at the sight before getting cut off.

"Raphtalia!" Naofumi exclaimed, rushing to her only to catch her as Lance pushed her his way. The two of them crouched low, Naofumi's shield creating a force field around them.

'Wait.' Shade said, 'That name sounds fami-'

'Fireballs now, names later.' Lance told his ghost, crouching into his own stance and crossing his arms in front of his face.

The fireballs landed all around them, destroying buildings and damaging the roads. Few hit Naofumi's shield, but one did hit Lance directly. Strangely enough, all it did was chip off the antenna on the cloak.

Well, it was made out of Light infused Vex metal, so it should be expected.

The rain stopped a second later. That's when the knights came in.

The head knight laughed, not noticing the people he almost incinerated, "We burned them all to death at once." He quickly noticed the Shield Hero though, "Ah, the Shield Hero. You're quite tough."

Lance's keen ears picked up Naofumi's voice, "They didn't even care that we were here?"

The hunter almost missed what happened next.

Raphtalia shot out from under Naofumi's cloak like a rocket, sword out straight and pointing it at the knights. They managed to block it though.

"Did you do this knowing Naofumi-sama was here?" Her voice came out angry, "Depending on your answer, I'll have your head."

"Draw swords!" Was the knight's response, prompting the other to do so and Raphtalia to back off, "Are you with the Shield Hero?" He asked.

"I am Naofumi-sama's sword!" She replied confidently, "None may disrespect him in my presence."

'Wow,' Shade stated, 'She's quite confident.'

"You think you can point your blade at the royal knights, you damned demi-human?" The knight responded.

'And he's just stupid.' The ghost stated.

'Royal knights, huh.' Lance thought, 'Somehow, I'm not surprised.'

Raphtalia tightened her grip on her sword, "What kind of knight neglects the people he's supposed to defend?"

Naofumi sighed, "Forget it Raphtalia."

She looked back at him in surprise, "But-"

"Drop it."

The knight laughed, "That's right. So long as you behave yourself, we won-"

"After all," The Shield Hero interrupted, "If they knew I was here, then surely they knew that the Bow Hero was here as well." He said the last part looking at Lance, giving him a dark smile.

'Way to give me an opening.' Said hero though, as he finally stood up.

The knights, only now noticing him, started to panic, "Sir Hero!" The head knight exclaimed in surprise, "W-we didn't know you were he-"

"Shut it!" Lance shouted, silencing the knight, "Why did you bomb this town if you didn't check it for people first? That's negligence."

"B-but Sir Hero," The knight spoke, "The town was quickly overrun by monsters after the flare was sent up. It was too dange-"

"So you did know people were in the town." Lance interrupted the man again, pointing out his words, "What would the king think of you bombing a town full of people?"

The knights started to panic more than before, not noticing the monsters approaching behind them, "S-surely you wouldn't a-approach the king with such a matter."

Lance scoffed, "Of course I would. This is a matter of public safety, knight."

A blue dot appeared on his radar, in front and to the left of him. It was heading to the approaching group of monsters.

"Now," He continued, "I suggest you get into formation so you can survive this day."

The knights were confused until they looked behind them, spotting the mass of monsters. They scrambled clumsily, trying to get into a formation.

Except, they didn't have to.

The sound of a spinning staff and a crack of lightning rang through the air, making even the ready to move Naofumi and Raphtalia stop. The source of that sound quickly revealed itself.

Or, herself.

Rifana slammed her crackling polearm at the feet of a group of zombies, sending a large shockwave of lightning that turned them into dust. She didn't stop there though. The next second, her polearm was sweeping in an ark, sending out a similar wave of lightning.

She continued to dance with the weapon, lightning flowing off the weapon in blazing arks that turned the enemies to ash and dust.

Everyone stared at the display in awe, except for Lance, 'There's no denying it, those are the moves of an Arcstrider.' His confusion then stirred, 'How did she even have the option during the class up?'

'It was most likely my Light that caused it.' Shade stated matter of factly.

The ground troops continued to be obliterated by Rifana, but the same couldn't be said about the ones who could take flight. The large bees did the smart thing, flying over Rifana and headed straight towards the knights. Too busy gawking at Rifana's display, they weren't ready for the attack.

But, again, they didn't need to be.

The familiar look of Naofumi's shield deflected a stinger from a knight's back, giving Raphtalia the opening to slice it in half, "Get it formation, we'll buy you time!" The Shield Hero exclaimed to the knights.

Only a few of them listened though, Lance mentally marking them before shouting to the others, "What are you waiting for? Get in formation!" They listened to that.

And so, they fought the monsters. Naofumi and Raphtalia worked together like a well oiled machine, killing monsters left and right while the knights only took out a few. The hunter had found his way next to Rifana and the two worked with the same efficiency as the Shield Hero and his companion.

For every arrow shot by Lance, a bee fell to the ground while every swipe of his partner's polearm, now back to normal, disconnected a zombie's head from its neck.

Just as the horde thinned to almost nothing though, a roar broke through the town. It was loud, coming from the treeline a few streets away. All of the fighters turned to the noise, most fearing what they saw.

It was a beast, a combination of them in fact. The four headed monster stood tall, nearly matching Lance in height. Its body and main head belonged to a lion, but its tail was a full length viper. The head of a goat sprouted from its neck, its eyes blank, while the head of a dragon sprouted from its leg.

Like all things, it had a name. 'Chimera, Amalgamation of Beasts'. Under that name was its health bar, surrounded in gold but only one third of the way full.

'It seems like Motoyasu and Ren lost track of it.' Shade stated matter of factly.

'Or they died.' Lance retorted.

'That too.' The ghost agreed.

The knights backed up in fear as the beast stalked towards them, limping from a leg injury. Naofumi raised his shield with gritted teeth while Raphtalia set her sword into a ready stance.

Lance though?

"Rifana." He calmly said, making both Raphtalia snap her head towards him and Rifana nod her head in understanding.

Her polearm in her hands was quickly replaced with Tranquility. Crouching down, she aimed the rifle at the now charging Chimera. Lance idaly noticed Naofumi's eyes go wide as he moved to cover the ears on Raphtalia's head.

Breath in.

Breath out.

Rifana pulled the trigger.

_BANG!_

She barely flinched at the sound this time, an improvement. The same thing couldn't be said for the others though.

The knights dropped their weapons, placing their hands over their ears in reaction to the thunderous sound. Naofumi, seemingly expecting the sound, only flinched while Raphtalia recoiled sharply at the sound. The Chimera was the most affected though.

It was the one that got shot after all.

The beast collapsed, its lifeless body unable to stand. Everyone was silent as the sky cleared up, signaling the end of the Wave.

Lance walked up to the fallen body, inspecting the wound, "Through the right eye, exiting the back of the skull." He muttered to himself before giving a thumbs up to Rifana, "Nice shot."

She just smiled at the praise.

A sudden clapping started, one that came from the apparent commander of the knights, "Bravo! As expected from a companion of the Bow Her-"

"Oh buzz off!" Lance interrupted him, making Naofumi chuckle just a little bit, "You didn't start fighting until I told you to. Isn't it your duty to fight the Wave either way?"

"U-um…" The knight stammered.

"Go find the other heroes or something." The hunter continued, "Just be useful."

The knight nodded, scampering off with a few others who decided to follow him.

**(Naofumi)**

A few minutes later, the villagers had come out of hiding and began to mourn. Not for the village, which was now basically in ruins, but for the people they had lost.

As it turned out, even with the help of Lance, there were still deaths. It seemed that neither of them were fast enough at getting to the village.

Not everyone mourned though. Two, in particular, celebrated.

Raphtalia and Lance's partner, Rifana, used to know each other apparently, before they were made into slaves that is. They had hugged and cried, so happy to see each other.

He couldn't even think about interfering with the adorable reunion, but he also knew the conversation was best left private, so he helped the villagers of Lute clean up the roads. As much as he could at least.

He also didn't want to test the girl with the gun. Where did she get that anyway?

Lance seemed to have a similar thought process, going off to clean up any stray monsters around the town.

Lance. It had been about a month since they last saw each other, and it wasn't exactly the best day.

Naofumi's fist clenched at the thought. That stupid trial. That stupid bitch, Myne. She was the cause of all of this. She was the reason his life was made so difficult in this world.

Nobody even questioned her claim.

No one except Lance.

Naofumi still didn't know why he did it, why he risked his own ass to to defend the shield wielder. Hell, he didn't even know if he was bluffing about evidence or not.

He sighed and looked back at Raphtalia and Rifana. They had stopped their hugging and crying, instead choosing to talk. About what, he didn't know, but they seemed to be having fun.

"It's nice to see a reunion like this, don't you agree?" A familiar voice spoke from next to Naofumi.

He turned and saw the so called hunter standing next to him. Naofumi didn't respond though.

"I took out the remaining monsters in the village." Lance said when Naofumi didn't speak.

"... Thanks for helping." Naofumi finally spoke.

The bow wielder nodded, "No need, I'm just doing what I needed to. It's like the others didn't think about defending the people." He muttered the last part.

He found himself scowling, "They even let the boss get away from them." He added to Lance's comment.

They stood in silence for a second, Naofumi breaking it with a question, "Why didn't you believe the accusations against me?" He asked for his own curiosity.

The hunter answered bluntly without hesitation, "They didn't have a damn piece of valid evidence."

That's what Naofumi wanted to hear, "So you're the only one with a brain."

Lance chuckled, "Sure, you can put it that way."

Silence rolled over them again.

"It was good seeing you again Naofumi." The Bow Hero stated in a calm tone.

"... Yeah, it was good seeing you too." Naofumi meant it. The only person who believed him was Lance.

He wasn't kidding when he told the hunter he would remember what he did for him.

Before they could converse anymore though, the head knight came back into the village clearing. Quickly spotting Lance, he waved the Bow Hero over.

Siad hero sighed, "Looks like I'm going to have to deal with this idiot again." He turned to Naofumi, "I'll talk to you later."

The Shield Hero nodded prompting Lance to leave for the knight. They would talk more later, he was sure of it.

He turned back to Raphtalia, deciding they should leave for the city and get some rest.

That's when something caught his eye, a glint of metal buried under the dirt, normally something he wouldn't bother with. Something urged him to investigate though.

He crouched down and brushed away the dirt, revealing the thin piece of black metal. Picking it up, he realized it was the same metal Lance's armor was made out of. Looking back at the Bow Hero, he saw that the antenna normally on the back of his cloak was gone.

Now, it was in his hand.

His first thought was to return it to Lance, but another one quickly overrode it, 'This metal survived the meteor blast without so much as a dent. I wonder what kind of shield it would give me. It was an antenna anyway, not like it could be much use in this world.'

With that thought, Naofumi placed it on his shield's gem. Like normal, the material disappeared and the shield changed.

It was bronze in color, a rich brown to be exact. The center was shaped like a dark circle with an hourglass in it, though it had no sand. Around this was a wide oval that matched the circle in height. The bronze itself was in the shape of a diamond that covered a good amount of Naofumi's arm. It felt… hollow though, like it was missing something.

It's information popped up a second later.

[Time Turner Shield - Legendary - Special Ability: Time Turner]

[Time Turner: ?]

[Level Up Requirements: ? - ?/?]

That was… strange. A shield has never been marked out like this before.

He shook his head. He would figure it out later, he needed sleep. Or food. Whatever he could get first. Standing back up, he started to make his way to Raphtalia.

Only to freeze at the sight. She wasn't moving, her mouth mid-word.

In fact, everyone, no everything, was frozen. From the knights to the villagers. From Lance to the two demi-human girls. Even the fires and their airborne cinders were suspended.

Unmoving.

"What's going on?" He called out, only for nothing to respond.

Except for the shield that is.

It emitted a faint glow, one that grew in intensity by the second.

"What the!?" The Shield Hero exclaimed, but it didn't change anything.

The light grew brighter and brighter until nothing could be seen. That's when it happened.

Naofumi's body took the plunge.

**(End)**

**Chapter 8 - The Shield And The Wall - April 6**


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer - I do not own the Destiny franchise or The Rising of the Shield Hero

To add to that, the Guardian Charlom-1 belongs to my friend, The Taken Huntsman. Him and me have a combined Destiny-verse so we share OCs.

This chapter was also unexpectedly hard to write(I had to have my friend help me with the pacing of the events). I just wanted to get that out there.

**Chapter 8 - The Shield And The Wall**

**(Naofumi)**

He turned back to Raphtalia, deciding they should leave for the city and get some rest.

That's when something caught his eye, a glint of metal buried under the dirt, normally something he wouldn't bother with. Something urged him to investigate though.

He crouched down and brushed away the dirt, revealing the thin piece of black metal. Picking it up, he realized it was the same metal Lance's armor was made out of. Looking back at the Bow Hero, he saw that the antenna normally on the back of his cloak was gone.

Now, it was in his hand.

His first thought was to return it to Lance, but another one quickly overrode it, 'This metal survived the meteor blast without so much as a dent. I wonder what kind of shield it would give me. It was an antenna anyway, not like it could be much use in this world.'

With that thought, Naofumi placed it on his shield's gem. Like normal, the material disappeared and the shield changed.

It was bronze in color, a rich brown to be exact. The center was shaped like a dark circle with an hourglass in it, though it had no sand. Around this was a wide oval that matched the circle in height. The bronze itself was in the shape of a diamond that covered a good amount of Naofumi's arm. It felt… hollow though, like it was missing something.

It's information popped up a second later.

[Time Turner Shield - Legendary - Special Ability: Time Turner]

[Time Turner: ?]

[Level Up Requirements: ? - ?/?]

That was… strange. A shield has never been marked out like this before.

He shook his head. He would figure it out later, he needed sleep. Or food. Whatever he could get first. Standing back up, he started to make his way to Raphtalia.

Only to freeze at the sight. She wasn't moving, her mouth mid-word.

In fact, everyone, no everything, was frozen. From the knights to the villagers. From Lance to the two demi-human girls. Even the fires and their airborne cinders were suspended.

Unmoving.

"What's going on?" He called out, only for nothing to respond.

Except for the shield that is.

It emitted a faint glow, one that grew in intensity by the second.

"What the!?" The Shield Hero exclaimed, but it didn't change anything.

The light grew brighter and brighter until nothing could be seen. That's when it happened.

Naofumi's body took the plunge.

**(The Last City - Earth - One Year Before The "Taken King" Incident)**

The Last City.

A monumental city that stood under the Traveler. It was as big as a small country and filled with millions of people all living their everyday lives in peace.

The Last City was a lively place sat atop a near-dead world. The only place to live your life on Earth was here, but it wasn't a bad life. Far from it in fact. Businessmen headed to work to start their late shifts while the busy night life was active in shopping and partying.

In this city, there was one building that stood out above the rest. A tower, the Tower in fact. The place where the Guardians lived and worked when they weren't on the field, keeping the city safe.

Thousands of Guardians called the Tower, and the city, home. Among these Guardians, three fireteams stood out above the rest.

The main one being Fireteam Wild, the true strikeforce of the Vanguard, led by the legendary Hunter, Salazar Stone. They had defeated the Black Heart, dismantled Atheon in its glass vault, and forever silenced Crota's soul in the Moon's pit.

The fireteam that commonly joined them in these endeavors was Fireteam Foothold, a team that went to create their namesake led by the immovable Titan, Charlom-1. They were the team to call if you need to stake your claim to something. Whether that was a piece of deep rooted enemy territory or an entire country, that was for the Vanguard to decide.

Then there was Fireteam Omega, the team some would call shadows. They were the ones you called if you wanted something done covertly. Skilled in the art of getting in and out of places unseen, they were pretty good at their job. They should be, they're led by a Hunter after all. A familiar Hunter in fact.

Lance Nightshade.

With the Voidwalker, Cornelius Pond, and the Sentinel, Reginald-3, they had made a name for themselves among the Guardian ranks.

But today, two Guardians would shine above the rest. The defenders who did everything they could to protect this wonderful city. They would shine today because of an unexpected event.

You see, during the infamous Battle of Twilight Gap, Fallen skiffs were shot down and left to crash. In an overlook due to the chaos, the crashed ships were not checked. The Guardians just assumed everyone on board died on impact.

To their credit, most did.

Only the crew of one ship survived. This crew had crashed relatively close to the city's wall. They were smart, not going out of their ship and instead using what Servitors they had to produce Ether to grow their numbers. They tunneled beneath the ground in an attempt to make room for more Fallen.

Among them were a few who had stealth tech that could fool city sensors for just a little bit. But it was enough for them to get to broken Spider Tanks to repair them.

They had prepared for a battle in retaliation to their loss at Twilight Gap so long ago, and today was the day they carried out this attack. Tunneling under the ground to the city had taken the better part of a year, but they were ready now.

Three Vandals using stealth tech made their way into the western wall and planted makeshift explosives and signal scramblers in a preplanned spot. With that in place, a breach was made.

The crew's captain, a low ranking Archon, was the first to enter in the confusion. It was followed by a force of Fallen that started to wreak havoc.

The Guardians responded quickly to the attack, but the breach was found by two Guardians. Charlom-1 and Reginald-3.

With the Fallen scrambling their comms, they were forced to defend the wall alone. At least, that's what everybody thought. What the official reports won't tell you is that there was someone else there.

And while he wasn't a Guardian, he was no less a hero.

**(Naofumi)**

The first thing Naofumi noted as the light faded was the haze of his vision. Dust clouded the ground around him as groaned, his face planted into the hard ground. He pushed up after a few moments, noticing his lack of aching bones.

The one and only thing he was tempted to thank his shield for.

The shielder glared at said shield at the very thought. The damn thing was still in whatever form it was forced into, the damn Time Turner.

Whatever that was.

The shield even refused to change to its normal form as he focused on it, leaving Nafumi to glare at the defensive instrument even harder.

He then groaned in frustration and threw his arm down before looking around him.

"What the hell just… happened?" He started with a raised, frustrated voice before he actually looked around.

All around him, tall buildings stood close together, all made of metal and concrete. Apartment complexes, office buildings, they were all around him.

He could see them clearly, even in the darkness that filled the sky, save for the peaking form of the rising sun.

It almost looked like… "Japan?" He asked rhetorically, no one around to answer him. His voice was quiet, filled with shock. He rubbed his eyes and shook his head before taking another look.

He then realized that it wasn't exactly Japan. At least, he hoped it wasn't.

First reason, he saw the wall as he turned around. It was massive, reaching higher than he was comfortable looking and spanning longer than his eyes could ever possibly see. Whatever this place wanted out, it was going to stay out.

Or maybe not.

His second observation was the fact that the city around him was trashed. Walls and ceilings were caving in, fires roared, smoke rised. As he concentrated, he even swore he heard gunfire and screaming coming from all around him, in the distance.

"What the hell is going on here." Naofumi muttered to himself as he started to move towards the wall aimlessly, picking his way through the wreckage with a clearer mind.

Whatever the answer to that question was, it wasn't like anyone was going to answer him right away.

Was it part of the waves? Coming to another… place and doing something there?

He shook his head. No, it had to do with the shield he just got. Its ability was marked off, so it could have done anything.

What did it want though? To ruin his life even more?

Naofumi growled at the thought. All the stupid shield had done since he had gotten it was ruin his life. It put a target on his back, for whatever reason, he didn't exactly know. All that was clear was that as soon as he figured out out to get rid of the damn shield, he was going t-

The shielder's eyes went wide before he brought his cursed shield up on his right, acting on reflex. Not a moment later, the shield sparked as two electric shortswords slammed into the metal. He gritted his teeth as he held back the blades, trying to get a look at what it was that was attacking him.

It, he thought, was an accurate term.

The thing was ugly and taller than he was by about a head. Speaking of which, its head was covered in a tattered purple hood that draped across its back, leaving only its ugly face visible. It had four to six eyes, he couldn't tell, and it had… mandibles that dripped slightly as it looked back at him curiously. Its long body was covered in dirty, rusted white plates of trash metal, almost like it found the metal laying around. It also had four arms, but two of them were too small to use.

He was unable to check above its head for a name as he pushed back hard, managing to barely get the creature off of him. It clicked in annoyance before letting out a battle cry and charging him again without hesitation. The shielder opted to roll out of the way of its next strike before quickly popping up and holding out his hand.

"Airstrike Shield!"

A large green shield materialized out of thin air at his command, rushing bottom first towards the creature. It seemed though that humans were not the only ones that could dodge a strike, and Naofumi noted that this creature definitely could as it ducked and crawled, no, scampered towards him like a spider, using all of its arms and legs.

Naofumi had to raise his shield in defense again as the bastard came down on him, both blades crashing into his guard. He idly noticed as his health partially drained. Growling in frustration at that, Naofumi pushed the creature off again and turned tail to run, facing the giant wall.

The creature would have immediately caught up to him if he didn't raise his arm and shout another command.

"Shield Prison!"

The creature found itself trapped in a sphere molded from shields and wrapped in chains, stopping its progress pretty fast.

The Shield Hero could hear it roar in outrage, and some foreign language, as he sprinted away. He didn't know if it could escape before its effect wore off, but he wasn't going to chance it.

Jumping over a slab of concrete, Naofumi could hear the gunfire getting louder. It wasn't but a minute later that he found himself at the wall, stopping himself before he could crash into the structure. I was even bigger up close, less solid though.

The shielder ran his hand along a large crack that had sprouted in the wall, going to his right horizontally. To where, he couldn't quite answer.

Mainly because his new friend had found him again.

Naofumi didn't even have any time to react as he was sent to the ground, back first so that the bastard was on top of him. It seemed annoyed to say the very least.

It shouted at him as he attempted to struggle, though the creature was surprisingly heavy for how it looked. All the Shield Hero could do was watch as the creature raised one of its arcing blades into the air and roar in victory.

Then, its skull caved in.

Well, he didn't exactly see what had happened to be honest, but that was his best guess.

The creature flew several feet and landed with a sickening crunch, no doubt dead, and Naofumi stared at it in surprise as it flew. He then turned his head as he heard feet stepping in the rubble next to him, and his eyes went wide.

Standing next to him was the biggest man he had ever seen.

The dude was seven foot tall, easy, and he was decked head to toe of strange looking armor. Heavy, brown, and bulky plates of steel covered most of his form, including his chest, lower legs, feet, shoulders, forearms, and his head. The helmet he wore was spiked backwards in two separate directions. A few grey pipes wrapped around his waist and secured a red cloth to himself, the same type and color of cloth being wrapped around his hands as well, that of which were also covered by a pair of black gloves.

"You must be lost." The man said almost casually as he held out a hand for the Shield Hero. Naofumi suppressed a glare as he stared at the hand for a few seconds, deciding to take it after a moment of consideration.

The man hoisted him up with ease, letting the shielder stabilize himself after he got up as he pulled a bulky brown AR off of his back. The armored giant held it with a practiced ease as he regarded Naofumi with an almost flat look, if a look could get through his helmet that is.

"Did evac not reach you?" The man then asked, getting the confused Naofumi to become even more confused.

"Where…" He started, shaking the new fuzz from his head, now that he could properly think. "What's going on?"

The man nodded, as if that was the answer he needed.

"I suspected as much." He started, his tone unchanged. "The Fallen have made it into the city and we are currently near the breach where they entered." He then informed the shielder, said shield hiding his confusion the best he could. "I'm Reginald-3, Guardian, Titan class."

A set of explosions went off nearby, as did more foreign screaming. Naofumi gained a tense expression, actual fear welling up inside of him.

He couldn't even faze one 'Fallen'. How was he supposed to defend himself here?

And how did this Reginald guy take it out in one punch!?

"It'll be safest if you stick with us for now." Reginald said, getting Naofumi's attention again. After a moment of consideration, the Shield Hero nodded in agreement. Reginald nodded as well before turning towards the sound of the explosions and heading that way, seeingly rushed as he did.

For one, the dude was crazy. Going straight in the direction of the sounds of death had to be a death sentence.

However, Naofumi was crazy enough to follow him. He had to be confident for a reason after all.

They strangely found no opposition as they headed for the epicenter of the noise, though Reginald kept his rifle up and Naofumi did the same with his shield.

The Shield Hero alos idly noticed the crack in the wall he saw earlier get wider and more jagged as they continued. It branched off and wildly swept up and down the wall, making it obvious that they were headed straight for the source of the break.

And he was right to assume so, for five minutes after they had started, they arrived at the source of the 'breach'.

Naofumi stopped and stared, slack-jawed at the sight. The wall was simply torn in two here, the concrete and metal that made it simply gathered at the bottom in pieces. The breach was so wide that a tank could fit through it with the greatest of ease. He even watched as several groups of those 'Fallen' came through with no trouble.

Well, not until they got in anyway.

The next sight that made Naofumi stop and think through everything was the sight of another man decked out in full armor. He was also easily seven feet taller, probably a few inches taller even, and he seemed almost rigid. His armor was pitch black and didn't have a single curve. The metal was all straight edges and sharp corners. It was textured too, like it was handmade. His helmet was a set of plates that converged at a single, long edge, an edge that glowed orange. His chest piece almost looked like Iron Man's from his old world, but it didn't glow.

Naofumi watched as this guy ignored any semblance of a weapon and simply ripped into these creatures with his bare hands. The gun was there, a black edgy shotgun attached to his back, but he just didn't use it.

And he didn't need to.

Every Fallen he hit seemed to simply die upon impact. Skulls caved in, chests collapsed, arms broken, nothing really survived. Not even a particularly large Fallen who was wearing a full purple cape and had blue energy surrounding it stood much of a chance.

The man simply slammed the shield on his right arm into the creature and it disappeared with little more than a cry of agony, fading into a purple mist.

Wait a second.

Naofumi focused on the man's arm as it moved in a deadly arc of death. Certainly enough, there was a round, purple shield on his arm. The shield glowed and radiated an eerie purple energy. He could feel the energy from where he stood, but at the same time, it felt empty. It was almost like…

The Shield Hero came to a sudden realization.

The bow that Lance had fired in the wave, the one that dragged all the monsters together. It felt like this, an empty energy. Were Lance and these people connected somehow?

His head was starting to hurt as he remembered something Lance said before, what he said when he introduced himself.

"_Lance Nightshade. Guardian, Hunter class." _

He called himself a Guardian, multiple times in fact. When he said he was a protector of the people, did he mean this?

Luckily, he was spared from his own thinking when a loud 'clang' rang out. The man in the middle of the frey had just slammed his shield into the ground, sending a shockwave in every direction that vaporized all that touched it. It was silent after that, his shield disappearing.

Seeing Reginald step forward, the Shield Hero decided to do the same.

Despite his confusion, he couldn't help but look to the black armored Titan with awe. While Naofumi himself could barely defend himself from the creature that attacked him, the hulking man took on an army of them without any trouble.

He was so shocked that he didn't even notice the brief glance the man took of his Time Turner shield. His attention was grabbed before Naofumi could notice anyway.

"I found a survivor Charlom." Reginald started, facing the man known as Charlom. "Are comms still down?"

Charlom nodded. "He'll stay with us then."

The hulking men then looked up to the sky as they heard the roar of a set of engines. Naofumi looked up too, getting a look at a set of what looked like bomber jets approaching them quickly.

Charlom seemed to nod, "Airstrike is he-"

He stopped dead when a strange, charging like sound echoed through the air. The Titan then summoned forth his shield again and jumped in front of them all, raising it as a wall of translucent purple energy formed in front of them all.

Not a moment too soon as an enormous red laser shot out from the gap in the wall and struck the front jet, sending shards of metal flying in every direction, including theirs.

Lowering his shield, Charlom watched as the jets turned around and did the best running they could do. He then hummed lowly as his gaze turned to the wall. He stared on calmly as the most terrifying thing Naofumi had ever seen came stomping through the breach.

"What the hell is that!?" Naofumi shouted, losing all of his cool as an enormous machine of twisted metal came through the wall.

It was easily the size of a decently sized house. It's entire body was made of rusted and dirty metal and it had two long barrels attached to the top of it, each one on its own swivel system. There were about six other guns lining the sides of what qualified as this things head. A large, spider-head shaped piece of scrap metal with six eyes, all glowing red. It carried itself on six thick metal legs, walking slowly and like an insect.

"Walker." Was all Charlom said as he pulled his shotgun off of his back, cocking it with one smooth motion.

"Heavily modified too." Reginald added, checking the ammo in his AR. "You're going to want to find a safe place, kid."

They didn't offer any more explanation than that before they both rushed forward towards the machine.

Naofumi just looked at them, shocked, "They're both crazy." He muttered to himself as he just stared on.

Charlom was the first to reach the Walker, immediately deciding to pump every round in his shotgun into one of the legs of the thing. The shotgun fired fast, cracks filling the air as pellets struck the metal, denting it slightly with every round.

The Walker tried to lift itself up to crush the Titan, but Reginald pulled its attention by firing his slower paced AR into its face.

It worked, the Walker deciding to focus on him instead. It charged the guns it had attached to its face and all six of them started to unload on Reginald. The only reason the Titan survived was because of the shield he summoned on to his arm.

The Titan raised it as the bullets reached him, blocking every one of them as he started to slide back with the impact. This continued for several moments before the entire machine stumbled, falling flat as it's leg was blown off by Charlom.

Naofumi looked at him amazed as he pulled his fist back towards him, the knuckle glowing with purple energy. Charlom then cocked his Shotgun again as he looked towards the neck of the machine.

He stopped though, almost tilting his head in confusion, like something that was supposed to happen didn't. All the while, Naofumi watched as what was left of the destroyed leg began to glow white hot.

It didn't take a genius to know that it was about to blow up.

Taking matters into his own hands, Naofumi raised his arm and shouted a familiar command, "Airstrike Shield!"

The air between the glowing leg and Charlom was suddenly occupied with a tall green shield. The Titan heard the shield form behind him and he turned back, now noticing the glowing leg beyond it.

Thinking fast, Charlom jumped up and placed a foot on the surface of the shield. He then pushed off of it, flying back just before the machine exploded.

Even though the machine was fine, as were the Titans, Naofumi suddenly felt himself get thrown off of his feet and to the ground. He groaned as he tried to get up, only to suddenly panic as the cursing of another Fallen that had successfully managed to sneak up on him filled his ears.

The creature had a foot on his chest and a sword raised by the time his vision cleared, giving him just enough time to raise his shield in an attempt to defend himself. Somehow, the defense succeeded and the sword aimed at his heart was stopped by his shield.

What was even more strange than that, and what was probably the most confusing thing he had encountered all day, was the fact that he no longer held his usual shield. Not even the Time Turner shield. Instead, he had a carbon copy of the round, mysterious shields the Titans wielded.

The sword was stopped dead in its tracks and, acting on instinct once again, Naofumi slammed his new shield into the creature. The Fallen barely gave out a sound of surprise as it was reduced to purple mist that floated away aimlessly.

Now that he knew it was there, he felt the power that it gave him. It was… incredible. He felt powerful.

He felt like he could fight.

As quickly as it had come though, the shield disappeared and Naofumi was left with the Time-Turner shield again.

He breathed heavily, his breath labored as he sat up, dazed. The Shield Hero barely even noticed as Reginald ripped the hatch off of the top of the Walker, jumping inside soon after.

What he did notice however was the fact the Charlom, who was running at him, suddenly slowed to a halt in front of the shielder. The two stared at each other silently, neither knowing exactly what to say as the Walker started to stumble not too far away.

"... Who are you?" Charlom asked Naofumi as the shielder caught his breath on the ground.

The Shield Hero stayed quiet for a moment longer before answering, "... Iwatani Naofumi."

Charlom nodded at his answer. He then noticed, along with the Shield Hero, that Naofumi's body began to glow like before. The shielder's initial thought was to panic, but something told him not to. That he wouldn't need to.

"I hope to meet you again Sir Naofumi, when we can better talk." The Titan told him, and he sounded genuine about it. It was a tone that the Shield Hero hadn't heard before, one of interest and genuine promise.

Naofumi just nodded, his mind in a sort of shock and at a loss for words.

And with that, he was gone again.

**(Raphtalia)**

_BANG!_

Raphtalia recoiled sharply as the thunderous sound reached her ears. Her sensitive ears became num, ringing loud enough for her to close her eyes to try to contain it.

'What was that?' She asked herself rhetorically, knowing what caused the sound.

But was it true? Was it really Rifana?

Raphtalia looked back up towards her and the man in black armor. The man was crouched over the Chimera's body, examining the wound. He turned to the supposed Rifana and supposedly said something.

She still couldn't hear much.

Her hearing was starting to clear though, enough to hear the clapping of the head guard. The guard that insulted Master Naofumi.

She gritted her teeth at the thought of it.

"Bravo! As expected from a companion of the Bow Her-" The knight attempted to say, only to be interrupted by the armored man.

"Oh buzz off!" The man said. Surprisingly, it made Naofumi chuckle just a little bit.

The man continued, "You didn't start fighting until I told you to. Isn't it your duty to fight the Wave either way?"

"U-um…" The knight stammered making Raphtalia giggle softly.

"Go find the other heroes or something." The armored man continued, "Just be useful."

The knight nodded, scampering off with a few others who decided to follow him, leaving just the four of them in the clearing.

Her ears still rang slightly, but Raphtalia was the first to move. More specifically, talk, "... Is that really you Rifana?"

The weasel girl's ears twitched as she turned to Raphtalia showing a confused face. That quickly disappeared though as her eyes widened in recognition, "Raphtalia?" She said it in a hopeful tone.

That was enough for her.

Raphtalia was on her in a second, arms wrapping around Rifana. The weasel girl was surprised at first before she returned the desperate hug with equal strength, dropping her strange weapon.

Tears were coming out of both of their eyes and they continued their desperate hug. She idaly heard the man in armor mutter under his breath, "Huh, I guess you did recognize that name."

Raphtalia didn't know how long they were like that, but when they finally separated most of the villagers from the mine could be seen. Naofumi was helping them clean up what rubble he could and the man in armor was gone somewhere.

She chose to not focus on that though, "What happened to you Rifana? You're so… different." She gestured to Rifana's body.

The weasel girl merely laughed, "I should ask you the same."

Raphtalia smiled before frowning as the memory of their last meeting came to mind, "I-I thought you were dead. I was- I was so worried."

Rifana frowned as well before a small smile appeared on her face, "I would have been if it wasn't for Lance."

Raphtalia tilted her head to the side, "Lance? You mean the guy in the black armor?"

Rifana's smile grew wider at that, "Yup, he freed me and taught me how to fight. He even gave me these weapons and clothes to use when I had nothing." She seemed to grow shy, "I owe him my life."

Raphtalia nodded before smiling softly, "I understand, Master Naofumi did the same with me."

It was Rifana's turn to tilt her head, "'Master' Naofumi? Does that mean your still a …" She didn't finish but Raphtalia understood what she meant.

"Yeah, I'm his slave." She confirmed before quickly reassuring her, "He's not making me do anything against my will though. He's been taking take of me, and in return I fight for him."

Rifana relaxed slightly, but not completely, "Fight for you? Can't he fight?"

"Not exactly." Raphtalia responded before standing a little taller, "He can't use a weapon because he's the Shield Hero, so I'm his sword."

At the mention of the Shield Hero, Rifana lost her demeanor of suspicion, "You're traveling with the Shield Hero?" She asked with awe.

Raphtalia seemed to turn a little smug, standing to her full height, which was about a head shorter then Rifana, "Yup, and he's just as nice as the stories siad. Even if he's rough around the edges." She said the last part a little quieter before smirking again, "You jealous?"

"A little." Rifana murmured in response before speaking up, "I'm still traveling with a hero though."

"Lance is a hero?" Raphtalia asked.

The weasel girl nodded with a smile, "Yup, he's the Bow Hero. He's really strong too."

The racoon girl thought of her meeting with Spear and the Sword Heroes before asking, "He's not mean is he?"

Rifana shook her head quickly, "No, of course not. He's the nicest person in the world." She ended the statement a little shyly.

Raphtalia smirked, "You like him, don't you?"

Rifana seemed to grow nervous, "W-what do you mean?" She asked, casting a quick look at Lance as he talked to the head guard, who came back a minute ago.

The smirk on Raphtalia's face grew more playful, "You know what I mean. You kept going on about marrying one of the heroes when we were younger after all."

The nervous look on the girl's face turned into a frantic blush, "W-what!? N-no, nothing like t-"

"Rifana." The Bow Hero's voice called out while walking over to them, causing said girl to squeak, "Sorry to interrupt, but we're about to head to the capital. The king wants to hold some kind of celebration with all of the heroes."

"A-alright." The girl responded through the blush, "I'm ready when you are."

"I'll get Master Naofumi then." Raphtalia said, getting the Bow Hero to nod. The racoon girl broke away from the conversation to get Naofumi, seeing him a short distance away.

When she got to him though, he had a weird look on his face while looking at his shield, "Is something wrong Naofumi-sama?"

He only then noticed her, looking a little bit surprised before shaking his head, "No, I'm fine."

She could tell he was lying, but she didn't push it, "Lance said that we have been invited to the castle for a celebration. We should go now if we want to make it before nightfall."

The Shield Hero just nodded, "Alright then, let's go."

**(End)**

**The descriptions of the armor are purposely left a little vague as they will be different in different chapters. Those will be better as they will be current armors of the Guardians in game. **

**Chapter 9 - Afterparty - April 20**


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer - I do not own the Destiny franchise or The Rising of the Shield Hero

**Chapter 9 - Afterparty**

Lance had to admit, the king knew how to throw a party.

Well, not a party per say. It was more of a banquet, held in one of the castle's many courtyards. This one was bigger though, allowing for the many guests to mingle freely.

Everyone there wore formal attire and dresses, everyone besides the four heroes and their companions that is. All of them, including Lance, were still in their battle attire.

Soft music played by violins and harps filled the air in a relaxing sort of way. The music was played by a band of pink dressed women lining the stairs that lead up to the second layer of the courtyard.

'Well, this is relaxing. Don't you agree?' Shade stated to Lance soon after arriving at the celebration.

Said hunter stood at the side of the room, watching the party in little interest, 'I guess. Still don't know why I came.' He said the second part with a sigh, 'This all seems redundant anyway, there are still more Waves to come. Why stop to celebrate the completion of one?'

The ghost laughed nervously, 'I don't think that's the point. Besides,' He added, 'We mostly came so Rifana could catch up with her friend.'

He had a point. Lance turned away from most of the party and looked at the conversing Rifana and Raphtalia. They seemed to be having fun with their conversation, laughing and giggling every once and awhile.

'I wonder what they're talking about.' The hunter though curiously.

'That is none of your business.' Shade replied to the rhetorical statement.

'I know, I know.' Lance replied with a roll of his eyes before speaking in a more serious tone, 'What the progress report on finding someone with Holy Light?'

Shade sighed sadly, 'Same as always, nothing new.'

The hunter hummed in response. They had concluded early on that Holy Light, or magic, was the same as the Traveler's Light. Well, not the same, but it was the closest lead they had to finding a host for their deactivated ghost. They could activate the ghost and let it run free in this world, but that seemed unwise to do in a world filled with unknowns.

Shade, in an effort to find someone who could wield the ghost, scanned every person they came across for a matching energy signature. To no avail though, they have found nothing in all of the traveling they have done.

'If only we asked about who the witch was talking about when we met her.' Lance told himself, remembering their trip to the magic shop, 'She did say someone else with the Holy affinity was in the shop the same day.'

'We could always try asking her,' Shade suggested, 'She might remember.'

The hunter merely hummed, filing that away for later.

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the king, who was standing on the balcony atop the stairs the band was playing on, "Splendidly done, brave heroes. Tonight, we celebrate!"

Lance raised an eyebrow at the statement, 'Isn't that something you say at the beginning of a celebration, not the middle of it?'

The king continued, "Enjoy yourselves to the fullest!" He raised his wine glass with the statement.

The shouts of "Hooray!" were heard around the hall as everyone with a cup raised theirs.

As if the king's words were some kind of cue, for all Lance knew it could have been, nobles and knights flocked to him. Most of the nobles were women wearing long , intricate dresses. Maybe they wanted to seduce him.

Who was he kidding. This is a corrupt government, of course they're going to try something.

"Sir Hero," One of the women said as she stepped up to him, "I heard how valiantly you fought in the wave. You must be very brave to have fought all of those monsters."

Flattery then. Frankly, it was something Lance was never a fan of.

"It's not like I did it alone." Lance responded, thinking of Rifana, Naofumi, and Raphtalia.

One of the knights chuckled in response, one that the hunter recognized from the Wave, "Yes, your companion did an incredible job. Her skill with lightning magic is amazing."

"Well yeah, but that's not what I me-" Lance was interrupted mid-retort.

"In fact," It was the same knight that spoke, "You performed some magic as well, didn't you? Rather strange magic as well. It was in the shape of a bow and everything."

"That's right, I heard about that from the captain." The knight next to him responded matter of factly before speaking to the hero directly, "What was that magic, if you don't mind me asking?"

I do mind, is what Lance wanted to say, but it would look weird if he didn't answer. So, he did, "It was nothing special, just my Shadowshot."

They gave him weird looks at the unfamiliar term, "Um… what is a 'Shadowshot', Sir Hero?" The first knight spoke.

"A Null magic spell that I came up with." Lance lied nonchalantly. He didn't come up with it after all.

He caught a sharp movement in the corner of his eye. Someone looking at him to be specific. The hunter didn't move his head, but he did look over to the movement and was surprised by what he saw.

It was Ren, that much was obvious. He was surrounded by more noble men and women, a drink in his hand. Had a new set of armor though. It was a mix of colors including black, white, and blue. His boots were a light blue with black armored ankle guards that covered some of his blue pants as well. He wore what looked like a trench coat that was primarily white but turned black when it reached his sides and arms. His right shoulder was covered in a spiked, black pauldron. Under his trench coat was a black plate of armor. He also wore gloves that were black. Around his neck was a navy blue scarf. His sword was placed on his back in a sheath.

The Sword Hero also happened to be looking at him.

Was it something he said?

A hearty laugh brought him back to the conversation at hand. It was the knight again, "As expected of one of the heroes. Here I thought Null magic was a useless affinity."

"Yeah," One of the noble women spoke, stepping closer to the hunter, "You must be super talented to be able to use magic like that."

"You know," Another noble woman started while also stepping closer, maybe too close, "I also have the Null affinity. Maybe you can teach me a thing or two?" She said the last part with a smile and a flutter of her eyebrows.

'Nope.' Lance thought, feeling uncomfortable at the attention, before asking Shade, 'Any ideas to get out of this would be helpful.'

'While I would like to see this go on just a little longer,' The ghost said while chuckling, 'I think Ren might want to speak with you.'

The hunter allowed his eyes to drift away from the woman trying to get close to him and saw that Ren was indeed heading his way.

Thank the Traveler for that.

He allowed Ren to be the one to interrupt the conversation, "Lance," The Sword Hero spoke, drawing the attention of the group, "Can I have a word with you?"

'Rather straightforward, isn't he.' Shade observed.

'As long as I get out of here, I don't care.' The hunter retorted.

"Sure Ren, what about?" Lance responded to the sword wielder.

Before he answered, the Sword Hero sent a look to the others in the group. They seemed to get the message and, grugendly, left to talk to others. Most of the women flocked to Motoyasu who was across the room with the red-headed Myne.

"Did I hear you right when you mentioned Null magic?" Ren spoke, straight to the point, "You can use it?"

"Still rather blunt, huh." The hunter responded, "But yeah, I can use Null magic. Why do you ask?" He stated the last part in a more questioning tone, curious to the reasoning.

The Sword Hero was silent for a second before answering, "It's about something I found. A quest item." He clarified.

'A quest item?' Shade asked, 'What is that supposed to be?'

Lance voiced the question he was also curious about, "What do you mean quest item?"

Ren looked at him in clight confusion before understanding crossed his face, "That's right, you didn't play the game. Let me explain it to you then." He said before explaining, "A quest item is needed to continue or, in cases like this, start a Quest. Quests on the other hand are missions that progress the story or unlock rewards like a weapon. They follow preset steps that you have to accomplish."

The hunter nodded along, "So your saying a Quest is a mission that has all of its steps provided, all you have to do is follow them?"

"Basically." The Sword Hero responded.

'I find that improbable.' Shade stated, 'You shouldn't have knowledge of the future like that. You should have to find the necessary steps and requirements to get to your goal. Have it told to you sounds wrong.'

Lance agreed with that, but at the same time, it did sound useful.

As if the apparent 'system' could read his mind, a pop up appeared in front of the hunter. It simply read:

[Quest Tab Unlocked]

'...huh.' Was all the ghost had to say about it.

"I see it now," Lance said to the Sword Hero, "The Quest tab I mean."

Ren nodded and continued, pulling an item from his belt, "I got this a week ago, found it in a cave after I defeated the monsters inside. My sword won't copy it like normal, but it did give me a Quest."

Lance looked at the mentioned item. It was a sword hilt, that much was obvious. It was fairly large, big enough in fact that two hands were required to hold it effectively. It was grey and kind of blocky. There was just one problem. It was only a hilt.

"The quest step for this is vague." Ren continued, "All it tells me is that I need to find an expert on the matter. I showed it to a blacksmith, but the only help he could give was that it's apparently magical. So, I had the magic shop owner examine it. She was equally as helpful, but she did tell me it felt like Null magic."

"And so you want me to look at it." Lance concluded, Ren nodding.

Another pop up appeared in his vision.

[New Quest Received - Null Remnants]

[Null Remnants: Step 1 - Examine 'Useless Sword Hilt']

'... I can scan it if you have it in your hand.' Shade helpfully chimed.

The hunter extended his hand, "Can I have a look at it then?" Hesitantly, Ren handed the sword hilt to the Bow Hero, who turned it over in his grasp.

'It's got Null energy alright.' The ghost confirmed, 'Even now, it's weird to me how similar it is to Void light.'

'What do you recomend needs to happen with it?' Lance asked.

'I don't know.' Shade answered honestly, 'But maybe it just needs a purpose. It does seem a little unfinished after all.'

'You're right about that,' The hunter replied, 'There isn't even a remnant of a blade. The creator must have stopped at the hilt for some reason.'

He then spoke to Ren, "It definitely has Null magic, a good amount actually. Right now though, that's no use to you as you don't have the Null affinity." He paused for a second, "At least I assume." When the Sword Hero nodded, Lance continued, "The actual blade on the other hand can be made to channel the inert Null energy without the affinity."

"So you suggest I make a blade for it?" Ren asked for clarification.

"Yeah," Lance confirmed, "But before that, you need to give it a purpose. From what I see here, the sword was never completed and as such never had a purpose."

"How would I give it a… purpose?" The Sword Hero asked a little confused about the statement.

The hunter shrugged, "Kill some stuff, that normally works."

Just as the sword wielder was about to interject, his eyes caught something. Before Lance could ask what, Ren tapped the air in front of him.

'Must be his own hud then.' The hunter realized.

"The quest actually updated." Ren spoke, a little surprise in his voice, "Thanks."

"Sure, no problem." Lance responded while handing back the hilt.

The Sword Hero didn't wait long before leaving, and as he did another popup appeared in his hud.

[Null Remnants - Step 1 - Complete]

[Null Remnants: Step 2 - Wait]

'... I feel like that's going to be more interesting later on.' Shade stated matter of factly.

'You and me both.' The hunter responded before looking around, 'You know where Rifana went? I think it's about time we left for now.'

'I agree, it's gotten pretty boring.' The ghost stated before continuing, 'She's at the far side of the room, next to the windows. Looks like she's with Naofumi and Raphtalia.'

Lance looked over and found her, but as he started his way over, he noticed Motoyasu doing the same.

His steps weren't as nice though.

"Naofumi…" Even though it wasn't shouted, everyone in the room heard it as said room had gone quiet when the Spear Hero's black glove hit the ground, "Duel me."

The room seemed to gasp while the demi-human girls next to Naofumi stepped back in confused shock.

'Duel him?' Lance thought in confusion as he made his way closer, 'Why would he want to do that?'

Motoyasu provided the answer, "I heard that Raphtalia-chan's your slave."

That made the hunter stop in his tracks, 'A slave? You're kidding me, right?'

"And what if she is?" Naofumi responded, Rifana and Raphtalia starting to look nervous.

The spear in Motoyasu's grip was held tighter, "You…"

Funnily enough, Lance's hand was doing the same. Before he could move again though, Shade spoke up.

'Now wait a second. I know this looks bad and all, but think of the circumstances.' The ghost said, 'Naofumi was framed for a crime that made no one else want to work with him. This could be the only way for him to have a partner.'

'That may be,' The hunter responded a little coldly, 'But she's still a slave. That slave crest is dangerous.'

'I highly doubt Naofumi would have a volatile enough slave crest to kill her.' Shade continued, 'The one I removed from Rifana was unstable, that's why it almost killed her. I'm not picking up the same kind of magic, so it should be safe for her.'

The hunter may not have liked it, but he found Shade's statement agreeable. He wasn't going to let the matter drop though.

"Raphtalia is my slave." Naofumi continued, not helping matters, "So what?"

Motoyasu's teeth gritted in fury, "Listen! It's not right to enslave others!"

"Listen to yourself." The Shield Hero spoke in a calm voice, "Slavery is legal in this country anyway."

'He is not helping matters.' Shade spoke in Lance's mind.

"But we are heroes from another world!" The Spear Hero exclaimed, "We can't behave that way here!"

"That's just your opinion." Naofumi retorted, "I disagree."

The Shield Hero stood up from his seat at the window, only for Motoyasu to point his spear in Naofumi's face, "Fight me!" The Spear Hero exclaimed, "If I win, free Raphtalia-chan."

"And if I win?" Naofumi asked after a moment of silence.

"Then…" The Spear Hero paused, unsure, "You can keep things as they are."

The Shield Hero just stared at him before walking away, "Ridiculous."

"Naofumi-sama?" Raphtalia asked as he walked away.

As Naofumi made his way to the stairs leading to the lower level, Ren spoke up next to the hunter, "I thought he couldn't stoop any lower, but he has."

Lance didn't respond, choosing to follow the Shield Hero instead. He idly noticed Rifana stuck by Raphtalia's side as she followed.

Good.

The shielder only got halfway down the steps before a guard blocked his way with his spear.

"I overheard your conversation." The king spoke aloud suddenly, "A hero, using a demi-human as his slave? It seems that you are rotten to the core."

Lance didn't miss the smug look on Myne's face as the king spoke. She was probably involved then, huh.

"I order you to accept his challenge!" The king demanded in a commanding voice, causing the occupants in the room to gasp.

'He seems a little egar, don't you agree?' Shade spoke to the hunter.

'Yeah,' Lance replied, 'He's up to something again.'

"That won't be necessary!" Raphtalia exclaimed, "I'm with Naofumi-sama of my own free will."

'Hearing her say is enough for me.' The hunter spoke as he started down the stairs, only to see a knight try to grab Raphtalia.

Rifana made sure that didn't happen though.

While not attacking, the wesal girl pushed the knight out of the way where he, and another knight beside him, pointed their spears at her.

"Now this is just getting ridiculous." Lance announced to the room causing gasps to be heard around the room.

The king, however, looked at him with narrowed eyes, "What do you mean by that Sir Nightshade?"

The hunter pushed past the knights holding spears at the demi-human girls, lowering the spears as he moved, "There's no need for a duel to 'free' Raphtalia. She is with Naofumi of her own free will, she said it herself. Isn't that enough?"

The king smiled, ill intent seemed to be hidden behind it, "She has a slave crest Sir Nightshade, so it is likely that she was ordered to say that." He then gained a smug look, "The only way we can be certain that it was the truth is if we take her slave crest off."

'Is that true?' Lance asked his ghost, curious.

'I don't know,' Shade answered, 'But it sounds like something I should look into.'

The hunter cursed his lack of information on the magic of this world. For now he would have to trust his gut.

Fortunately, as a hunter, his gut was usually spot on.

"Well, I'm going to say that she is telling the truth." The king's expression turned from smug to shocked at the Bow Hero's statement. Gasps followed as well. Raphtalia and Naofumi however, smiled at him.

Even if Naofumi's was a smug one.

The king quickly regained his composure though, "That may be Sir Nightshade, but my command still stands. Sir Motoyasu and the Shield Hero will fight. If he does not fight, I will have to take the girl by force."

At his words, more knights stepped up with their hands on their swords.

Naofumi gritted his teeth at the action, "Fine." He said after a moment, "But none of you will lay a hand on her."

Lance turned to Naofumi a bit surprised, but didn't say anything. It was his choice after all.

The king didn't stop there though, "Be as it may, I can't allow that girl to run free with that curse. God knows what she might do…" He said this with a small smirk. The knights around them moved to take Raphtalia, causing Rifana to form a ready stance and Naofumi to try and step forward with clenched fists.

They didn't need to worry though.

Lance grabbed Raphtalia's wrist lightly before saying, "Then I will take full responsibility for her until this matter is resolved."

The king frowned slightly, but only for a second, "Very well, if that is your wish then so be it."

**(The Arena - A Few Minutes Later)**

The arena itself was large, not mentioning the two levels of stands surrounding it. Lance, Rifana, and Raphtalia were on the lowest level of these stands. The stands also had two balconies on either side. On one, the king sat with two of his advisers and several guards behind him. On the other though, was a man he had never met.

He was older, probably around the same age as the king. Only a little bit of his grey hair could be seen as his head was covered by a tall, white hat with a golden bottom and golden accents. He wore elegant white and gold robes, the chest portion of the robes being mainly gold with a lighter gold cross on it. The lower portion of the robes were a deep red. The red matched the cloth that was draped over his shoulders, covering most of his arms. A white scarf was draped around his neck, but it wasn't wrapped. A beaded necklace was on his neck as well, the symbol of the church made of gold was placed on it. The symbol being the Legendary Bow, Sword, and Spear.

'Do you know who he is?' The hunter asked Shade, only to receive a negative answer.

'No, I don't.' The ghost answered, before he continued in a surprised voice, 'But I'm picking up a trace of Holy magic from him.' That got the hunter immensely more interested.

Before he could say anything about it though, a loud voice spoke out, "The duel between the Spear Hero and the Shield Hero will now begin!" Lance and the demi-human girls focused their attention to the arena. The announcement continued, "This duel will end when one of the combatants is pinned or admits defeat."

The two mentioned heroes walked into the arena from either side of it, facing each other.

The announcer continued, "This duel will take place in the presence of King Melromarc and the Pope, and it is thus legitimate and official."

The hunter hummed, 'That makes sense, the magic shop owner did say you needed Holy magic to become the Pope.'

'Maybe we should talk to him after the battle.' Shade stated.

As Lance was about to agree, something told him no. A gut feeling in fact.

Something was off about him.

'Maybe we shouldn't.' The hunter stated, 'He's already pretty old for this world, he probably wouldn't accept that kind of role.'

'Maybe.' Was the ghost's reply. He knew something was off, but he didn't pry.

As Lance looked down at the arena, he saw the two opponents face each other with ready stances. Their weapons had changed form. Naofumi's shield was in the shape of a diamond and Motoyasu's spear was more brutish in shape.

"Ready…" The announcer spoke one final time, "Begin!"

With that, the Spear Hero charged.

"The unstoppable spear vs the immovable shield." Lance muttered to himself. Though, with their advanced hearing, Rifana and Raphtalia heard and turned to him questionably.

With a straight and predictable run, Motoyasu charged Naofumi. The result was an easy block. Two more quick strikes followed, but those were also blocked by the shielder. The Spear Hero was trying to force his spear through Naofumi's shield, but to no avail.

He elaborated, "It's a tale from the world the heroes come from." That sparked their interest, "A couple thousand years old in fact."

"Why did you mention it?" Rifana was the one to ask.

Lance shrugged, "It tells of the same scenario, kind of." He paused for a second before he said the last part, "A spear that could pierce any shield vs a shield that could resist any spear. When the spear failed to pierce the shield, the spear lost."

Raphtalia perked up at that, "Does that mean Naofumi has an advantage?"

"Sure, as long as he can block Motoyasu's shots." The hunter replied.

A sudden shout from the arena grabbed his attention, "Chaos Spear!"

Looking down at the cause, Lance saw Motoyasu charge Naofumi again, but his spear was glowing.

He didn't have to wait long to see why.

To most people, it looked like Motoyasu was thrusting his weapon so fast that all you could see were flashes of light created by it. To Lance, who could keep up with the speed, Motoyasu was thrusting his glowing spear. Every time he did so, a projectile was fired from it.

Naofumi put up a good effort by blocking most of them, but a lucky shot managed to hit his shoulder, forcing him back.

"Master Naofumi!" The hunter glaced to the side where Raphtalia had shouted in worry, before looking back at the fight. Specifically Naofumi.

He seemed alright. Better than alright actually, like he just shrugged off the damage of the strike.

Guess being the Shield Hero had its perks. Like an obscenely high defence.

The Shield Hero was so fine in fact, that he charged Motoyasu. Rifana and Raphtalia shot worriedly and looked down at him, but Lance expected it at some point.

He has seen shielders fight after all.

At the last second, Naofumi side stepped Motoyasu's spear and slammed his own shield into the Spear Hero's gut. The strike hit him with enough force to bring him up. A good hit to be fair.

It was what Naofumi left behind that mattered.

Using the punch, the Shield Hero planted an orange balloon monster onto Motoyasu's side. The monster latched on and actually started to do some damage if the look on the Spear Hero's face was anything to go off of.

The demi-human girls gasped in surprise as the Shield Hero revealed the monsters that clung to his body. It was a better reaction than most of the nobles, who happened to scream. Lance however…

A chuckle escaped the hunter, causing Rifana and Raphtalia to snap their heads into his direction. He didn't clarify.

'He would make a great hunter with those tactics.' Lance thought.

Shade seemed to nod, 'If only he had Holy magic as an affinity.'

The balloon unhooked itself from the Spear Hero and bounced back to took another one into hand before speaking, "If I can't win anyway, I might as well make you as miserable as I can." He threw the balloon at Motoyasu, who sliced it in half.

"Screw you!" The Spear Hero said before charging again, "Fight me fair and square!" The hero didn't notice Naofumi's shield glow slightly, but he did notice its new form.

After it bit his arm of course.

The new shield was made of grey steel in the shape of a knight's shield. The interesting part about it though were the two dog heads sprouting from it.

An interesting shield. Lance would have to ask how he got it later.

When Motoyasu's spear struck the shield, the dog heads extended and bit the Spear Hero. Said hero jumped back to get them off, but Naofumi wasn't done yet.

His shield shifted again, this time turning into a coil of ropes. He thrusted his arm forward and shouted, "Air Strike Shield!"

An ethereal green shield appeared in front of him, only to speed towards Motoyasu and hit him in his stomach, making him double over.

As a final bit, Naofumi's shield changed again. This time it was a bunch of pipes. He threw the last of the balloons he had at the Spear Hero before shouting, "Shield Prison!" At his command, several shields and chains burst from the floor and encased Motoyasu with the balloon monsters.

The crowd murmured nervously at the change of pace, but Lance merely smiled at the trap the Shield Hero had made. It was quite good after all.

Said hero ignored the shouts from the crowd and walked up to the prison he had made, "Hurry up and admit defeat," Stated to the trapped hero, "Do you want to be embarrassed even more, Mr Hot Stuff?"

The ball of shields and chains glowed before disappearing, leaving Motoyasu on the floor.

'Lance,' Shade drew his attention, 'There's an energy build up nearby.'

The hunter raised an eyebrow, 'Where?'

'Far side of the arena.' The ghost answered.

Looking in the direction, Lance immediately saw the problem and gritted his teeth.

It was Myne.

She had her hand out in front of her and was muttering something. Silently cursing, the hunter stood up and was about to jump the ledge of the arena.

It was too late though. Myne casted her spell.

Her hand glowed pink as a turrent of wind rushed forward and hit Naofumi, sending him flying. He landed roughly on the ground across the arena as dust was kicked into the air.

After the Shield Hero landed, he looked at the cause of the magic in anger before standing and shouting, "You bitch!"

A loud pop resonated as Motoyasu cut the last balloon monster in half, before charging.

Only to quickly plant his feet on the ground to stop himself from crossing path with the purple flames separating the two heroes.

"What the hell?!" The Spear Hero exclaimed after he stopped.

"The match is over!" Lance exclaimed from his new position in the arena, "Naofumi Iwatani has won the duel due to outside interference."

The crowd gasped at the statement, not believing their ears as they heard his words.

"What is the meaning of this!" The king shouted in anger.

The hunter tilted his head, "I just said why, didn't I? An interference was made to sabotage Naofumi, so he wins by default."

The king and Myne both scoffed at his words, Myne speaking up, "I didn't see anyone do such a thing, Sir Nightshade. It must have been your imagination."

"That's right," The king stated happily, "The stress of the Wave must still be plaguing you. No one else saw anything after all."

The crowd was silent, nobody stating if his claim was true or not. It was easy to understand why. They all feared the king.

Lance didn't need them to talk though.

"I don't need anyone else to have seen it," The hunter stated, "I have it recorded after all."

Several faces turned confused, including Myne and the king. Motoyasu and Naofumi, however, had shocked looks on their faces. The Shield Hero smiled after a second though, his grin borderline evil.

"What do you mean by that Sir Hero?" Myne asked, confused.

"Yeah man, I mean, how could you record anything?" Motoyasu questioned while stepping up to Lance, the purple flames of the Voidwall grenade gone, "You don't have a camera."

The hunter merely tapped the red eyes on his helmet, "My third eye isn't just for show, Motoyasu."

The Spear Hero's eyes widened in realization, "Oooh, that's actually pretty cool. So you just record everything you see with that?"

"Exactly." Lance answered, "I use it for mission debriefings. Anyway, we're getting off topic."

The hunter tapped his left bracer as he brought it up, making it project a holographic screen. On that screen was an image of the arena from the view of the stands. Lance's point of view to be exact. On top of the image was a generic play button inside of a circle.

Motoyasu was next to Lance at this point, a curious and slightly worried Myne behind him.

She hid the worry well, but not well enough for the hunter.

"This is the recording of the moment Myne used what seems to be wind magic on Naofumi to bring him down." The hunter stated as he pressed the play button on the hologram.

Myne's slight worry turned to easily visible panic at the replay of events. The king, who quickly made it down to the field, also looked on in panic. They quickly recomposed themselves though before trying to regain control of the situation.

"That's obviously just illusion magic, Sir Motoyasu." Myne spoke to said hero as she held his arm into her chest, "Those with the Holy affinity can cast it after all."

'How does she know your affinities?' Shade spoke confused, 'The should be private information.'

'It doesn't matter at this point.' Lance stated simply.

She was right. Well, partially right. It was true that those with the Holy magic affinity could learn and therefore cast illusion magic. In fact, that was a spell Lance had taught himself in the past few weeks using the magic grimoire he had. He didn't mess with the footage though.

But, he should probably give more evidence.

"Fine, have it your way." The hunter said, putting his arm and recording down before turning to Motoyasu, "Myne is in your party, right?"

"Yeah, why?" The Spear Hero asked confused.

"What is her Mana level at?" Lance asked, causing Motoyasu to look at his party list.

After a second, he turned to a slightly nervous Myne, "Myne, why did you cast magic during our fight? It was supposed to be a one on one duel."

"W-well, I just didn't want to see you get hurt." Myne spoke, pushing the Spear Hero's arm further into her chest, "I didn't mean to interfere, I just wanted to stop the Shield Hero from hitting you with that monster."

'Like that will work on him.' Shade scoffed at the sight of Myne.

"O-oh, well I guess that makes sense." The Spear Hero spoke, "I can't exactly fault you for theat can I?"

'... Unbelievable.' The ghost stated, astounded.

'That kind of behaviour is going to get him killed some day.' Lance thought.

"I still won." Naofumi suddenly stated, "So me and Raphtalia will be going now. Don't try to stop us."

"Not quite, Shield Hero." The king said with disdain, "You used monsters to fight in this holy fight. Neither I, nor anyone else here can recognize such a victory."

The crowd seemed to murmur in agreement at the king's words.

"What the hell are you talking about!?" The Shield Hero started in outrage, "I fought using what I had at my disposal! How is that cheating?!"

Even with those words, Lance knew the king would have his way. The nobles in the crowd were already murmuring against him, commenting on his less than honorable tactics.

It seems that the only person who would accept those tactics was a hunter who would do the same.

"There is no need to listen anymore." The king spoke, ignoring Naofumi, "The Spear Hero is victorious!" The crowd roared with cheers at the announcement.

Despair appeared on the Shield Hero's face. He thought it was over, that everyone was working against him.

Lance needed to do something, or Naofumi was going to lose the only way for him to survive.

The hunter looked around the arena, at Rifana and Raphtalia in the stands, at Naofumi as he stood in his state of despair, and he viewed the king with Myne and Motoyasu.

He had an idea.

Lance walked in the direction of the stands, in the direction of Naofumi to be more specific. As he brushed past the Shield Hero, the hunter spoke two words, "Play along."

The shielder looked confused at his words, but nodded anyway.

"Play along." Lance silently stated in his mic, prompting Rifana to send a questioning look at him. She stiffly nodded anyway, whispering the same to Raphtalia.

"I need you to stop the priests from getting here with… whatever they use to get rid of the crest." The hunter gave his order to Rifana.

She seemed to whisper what she was doing to Raphtalia before moving out of sight.

No one paid her any mind.

"Now then, since Sir Motoyasu was the winner, the girl goes free." The king stated happily, "Malty, would you be a dear and bring her here please."

'Malty?' Shade asked, 'Who's Malty?'

"Yes father." Myne, or Malty, stated happily before making her way to the stands.

That made the hunter pause for a second, but he didn't have time to think about it now.

"You, you people have no right t-" She was cut off when a rag was put into her mouth and her hands were held behind her back.

"Is that really necessary?" Lance asked no one in particular, getting no answer in response.

Typical.

Raphtalia was brought down to the arena and forced to her knees. Several guards around her along with Myne(Malty), the king, Motoyasu, and lastly Lance. Naofumi was on the ground, looking furious and crestfallen.

After a minute or two, the king began to become impatient, "Where are those damn priests?" He grumbled a little angrily.

"Is there anything wrong, your majesty?" Lance asked innocently, causing the king to turn to him.

"The priest with the holy water needed hasn't arrived yet." The king grumbled in response.

"Maybe I can help then." The hunter stated, making the heads of everyone close by, including Raphtalia and Naofumi turn to him, "I mean, I have used my Holy magic to remove a slave crest before."

The looks on him turned into shocked ones. Not even a second later the king smiled a little devilishly, no doubt thinking that having Lance remove the slave crest would crush Naofumi even more.

For a king, it was quite easy for the hunter to trick him with his own desires.

"By all means, Sir Nightshade, go ahead." The king stated a little too happily, "It would be an honor to see Holy magic at work."

Lance simply nodded before stepping in front of Raphtalia. Worry, confusion, and a slight bit of anger flashed through her eyes. Again, the hunter didn't have time to think about it.

This was going to be the most difficult part after all.

No matter how much he hated the slave crest on her chest, his gut and her words from earlier told Lance that she didn't want it taken off.

So he had to make it look like it was off.

He raised his right hand in front of him, palm out. In front of his hand, he used the magic they thought he used earlier, illusion magic, to create an invisible sphere the size of his ghost. He then summoned his ghost inside of the sphere, making him invisible to the outside world.

'I want you to scan the crest.' Lance thought to his ghost, 'Make it visible.'

'Roger that.' The ghost answered simply, projecting the familiar beam of light he used to scan things. Only this time, it looked like Lance was casting it.

He heard several people show excitement at the light, thinking he was removing the slave crest.

'That is a way better scan.' Shade stated, 'I even managed to isolate the part that causes pain.'

'Get rid of that part if you can without destroying the whole thing.' Lance said, 'I need to concentrate on this next piece.'

Very carefully, Lance extended his reach of magic and started to cover the slave crest, rendering it invisible.

'Done.' Shade stated, shutting off the beam of light and retreating back into Lance's head.

'Same here.' Lance followed, lowering his hand and dismissing the illusion on his hand.

The slave crest was seen no more, but it was still there. The confusion in Raphtalia's eyes confirmed it.

A light clapping was heard behind him, "Good job, Sir Nightshade, excellent performance." It was the king who said this, that much was obvious.

Lance took a few steps back as the knights holding Raphtalia let her go, expecting a show of anger.

There was one, just not directed at him.

"Be grateful to Motoyasu-sama, it's thanks to him that you are free from that horrible curse." Myne proclaimed with a sly smile. That smile vanished quickly, because the moment Raphtalia was free, she took three steps forward and slapped Motoyasu across the face.

"You cheat!" The demi-human girl shouted at the Spear Hero.

"Wh-what are you doing to Motoyasu-sama?" Myne asked in a confused state.

Raphtalia shot back, "When did I ask you to free me?!"

"B-but he was abusing you, right?" Motoyasu asked, terribly confused at the turn of events.

"What the hell do you know about Naofumi-sama?!" The angry Raphtalia shouted, "He never made me do anything I couldn't do! He only activated the curse when I was too scared to fight!"

Seeing an opening, Motoyasu jumped in by slamming the butt of his spear onto the ground, "And that's the problem! Nobody should be forced to fight!"

"Naofumi-sama can't use any weapons!" Raphtalia continued, "Someone else has to fight for him!"

"It doesn't have to be you." The Spear Hero tried to reason, "He'll just abuse you until you break."

"Naofumi-sama defends me!" She stated, "He lets me rest when I'm tired!"

"No," Motoyasu tried to reason with himself, "He's not that kind of guy."

"Are you capable of extending a hand to a diseased slave on the verge of death?" Raphtalia asked in a deadly serious tone, "Naofumi-sama fed me everything I wanted to eat! He gave me valuable medicine to treat my illness! Are you capable of that?!"

Motoyasu flinched at her words, "O-of course I could…"

"If that were true," Raphtalia stated, "You would have a slave by your side too!"

'That reminds me.' The hunter thought before speaking silently through comms, "Rifana, it's done. Come back to the arena."

"Roger that." Was her response.

He was quickly brought back to the conversation at hand by Myne, "Knock it off!" She exclaimed, clenching her fist, "How dare you, damned demi-human? Is that how you repay Sir Motoyasu's kindness?"

Raphtalia responded in kind, "I never asked for his intervention, nor did I need it! If he has so much kindness to give, maybe he should focus his efforts on those who truly need it!" She ended it by turning around, making her way to Naofumi.

She ignored the steaming redhead and the Spear Hero, who looked like he had been slapped in the face again.

"Naofumi-sama…" Raptalia addressed the said hero after stopping about a meter away from him.

"Why are you here? You're free now thanks to Motoyasu, so just leave already…" he stated softly with a slight bit of fake pain in his voice.

Good, he was playing along as well.

"Listen, please, I already know about the rumors-" She began but was interrupted by Naofumi.

"I didn't do it!" He shouted with real fear in his voice this time, repeating himself in an almost pleading like whisper.

Raphtalia crouched in front of the despairing hero, encircling her arms around him and not letting go when Naofumi tried to shake her off.

"I believe you. Even if the entire world says that you did it, I will deny it every time!" She proclaimed, shaking Naofumi out of his despair, "Even if you won't believe in yourself, I will believe in you Naofumi-sama! You didn't do it, I knew that from the start!"

The Shield Hero leaned back slightly, looking towards the demi-human girl.

"Raphtalia?" He questioned, not sounding completely sure.

She shot an exasperated smile at him, "Who else would it be? Honestly, you're still seeing me as a child, aren't you? This may be bad timing on my part, but demi-humans grow up as we level."

Lance figured as much.

"If you still cannot believe me, then put another seal on me and allow me to stay by your side as your sword." Raphtalia finished.

The statement seemed to have hit the Shield Hero as he wrapped his arms around the girl like a life line and didn't let go.

The crowd by that point had dispersed, not wanting to stay for such a moment for the Shield Hero. Only Myne, the king, and the three remaining heroes were there. Ren having come down a few minutes earlier during the commotion.

The king and Myne scoffed as they were the first to leave.

Motoyasu gripped his spear, "I didn't do anything wrong." He told himself as he watched the scene, "What's wrong is a hero having a slave. Raphtalia-chan might still be doing all this because she's brainwashed."

"I don't know about that." Ren stated calmly, causing the Spear Hero's head to turn.

"It's incredible that you can say that after seeing this." Lance followed.

After a second had gone by, Motoyasu fled the field quickly. He was followed by Ren who nodded at Lance as he went by.

Rifana entered a second later, but stopped next to Lance as she spotted Naofumi and Raphtalia.

"Come on." The hunter softly said to his companion, "Lets go."

**(End)**

**Chapter 10 - A Friendly Chat - May 4**


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer - I do not own the Destiny franchise or The Rising of the Shield Hero

This chapter is shorter than normal, but to be fair, it's mainly expository.

This chapter has the normal Guardian explanation of the Destiny world trope for Destiny crossover stories and that takes up most of it.

So, because of how (in my opinion) boring this chapter is, I'll be posting chapter 11 a week early.

**Chapter 10 - A Friendly Chat**

The magic shop was the same as he remembered it. Exotic energies still spilled out of it like normal and business seemed to be non-existent.

Lance and Rifana had visited the shop a few days ago to find Rifana's affinities, Lightning and Wind magic.

They were about to head out of town again, but a question from the night before made him come here. Specifically, will the shop owner remember who else had Holy magic the day he was first here?

They were here to ask that today.

It seemed that there were others in the store that day, as his sharp hearing could pick up talking from inside. Not thinking of it, he opened the door and stepped inside with Rifana.

"... have an affinity for healing and support magic, Shield Hero." The shop owner stated as they walked in, causing them to pause, "And the young lady has light and dark magic affinities. She is half raccoon after all. I recommend she learn illusion magic and the like."

Not noticing the hunter and his companion, the shop owner grabbed a book from a shelf under the desk and held it out to the Shield Hero.

Seeing the book, a sorry expression came over Naofumi's face, "I'm afraid we don't have the money to buy a magic grimoire."

Lance stepped forward, "Then allow me to pitch in."

All of the occupants of the shop turned to his voice in surprise, before the shop owner shook her head, "No, no. It's free, as thanks for helping my grandkid. I actually would've loved to give you a crystal ball instead."

"Huh?" Was all the Shield Hero said to the statement, and Lance also had to wonder why a crystal ball would have been better.

"Don't you know?" The woman asked after seeing their expressions, "If you use a crystal ball, you can learn one of the magics sealed in it."

"First I've heard of that." Naofumi stated out loud as Lance muttered the same thing, causing Rifana to giggle quietly. Her face fell slightly at the shop owner's next statement.

"But I heard that the royal court ordered a bunch of them for the heroes." The woman stated, confusing Lance.

'Really now?' Shade asked rhetorically.

"I bet they handed them out to every hero but me." Naofumi stated before turning to Lance, "Is that how you learned that illusion magic you used the other day?"

The hunter shook his head, "No, I never got any crystal balls. To be fair though, I didn't stick around very long."

The Shield Hero nodded silently at the statement before accepting the magical grimoire from the shop owner.

"Learning magic from a grimoire is hard, but if you keep at it, you can learn as many spells as you want." The woman stated happily, "Do your best!"

Naofumi and Raphtalia smiled, "Thank you." The Shield Hero stated.

Having finished that conversation, the shop owner turned to Lance, "And what can I do for you Bow Hero? Are you perhaps looking for more magic grimoires for you and your companion?"

Lance chuckled lightly while he shook his head and stepped up to the counter, "No, we are doing fine with the one you've given us already. I just wanted to know if you remembered something."

The shop owner raised an eyebrow, "Oh, what would that be?"

"On the first day I came here, you mentioned someone else coming in the same day with the Holy affinity as well." Lance stated, "Do you happen to remember who it was?"

The shop owner chuckled slightly, "I do actually. The affinity is so rare that I don't know how I would forget. She didn't tell me her name, but it was a little girl about ten years old. A kitsune demi-human if I remember right." She smiled, "She was just the cutest little girl."

'Kitsune demi-human?' Shade said, 'Why does that seem familiar?'

'Because she left the shop just as we entered.' The hunter responded, almost face palming, 'We were so close to her and we didn't notice.'

'Well to be fair, I didn't start scanning people until about a day later.' The ghost responded.

"Is that all you need, Bow Hero?" The shop owner asked him, snapping him from his thoughts.

Lance nodded, "Yeah, thank you."

"If you don't mind me asking," The woman continued, "Why did you want to know?"

The hunter hesitated before saying, "I just have a theory about something from my own world." His hand drifted to the pouch on his belt that held the deactivated ghost.

The faces in the room turned curious as the shop owner responded, "Oh, that's mysterious. I won't pry though."

Lance nodded as he turned to Naofumi, "It's good to see you again Naofumi."

"Yeah." The Shield Hero responded simply, "I actually wanted to talk to you about yesterday. Think we could go somewhere a little bit more private?"

**(Local Inn - A Few Minutes Later)**

Not the most private place in the world, but it would do for now.

Lance and Naofumi were in the room the Shield Hero had been staying in for the past few days. It was a cozy little room with two beds, a window looking outside, and a table with a few chairs around it.

The two heroes were currently sitting down at this table while their demi-human companions had gone downstairs. Raphtalia and Rifana went downstairs to get something to eat.

"So," Lance was the first to speak, "What did you want to specifically go over?" He asked, not completely knowing what he was here for.

The only thing the hunter could think of was the slave crest incident.

Naofumi himself looked like he was having trouble figuring out what to say, but he eventually decided on something, "Do you know anybody named Charlom or Reginald?"

That floored the Guardian.

'W-what?' Shade asked, shocked, 'How could he possibly…'

Lance ignored the ghost however, "Yeah, I do." The hunter said slowly, "How do you know them?"

The Shield Hero looked both nervous at the response, and relieved by it. He waited a second before responding, "This is probably going to be hard to explain, but, I think I went to your world."

The hunter was silent, but only for a second, "How could you have possibly, no, why do you think that?" The hunter's voice was borderline demanding.

"W-well," Naofumi said nervously to the hunter, "I thought I was in Japan at first, but then I saw guys who looked like you. Except bigger and bulkier."

Lance thought for a second, "That wasn't what tipped you off about not being in Japan, was it?"

"No, it wasn't." The Shield Hero responded, "I was tipped off by the gigantic walls first. Then it was the alien with swords that came after me. The big guys are what made me think it was your world though."

"... How did you even get there?" The hunter finally asked, voicing the question from his ghost.

"So I was in your world, well, version of Earth?" Naofumi asked for confirmation.

"From what you're describing, yeah." Lance confirmed, "Still, how did you get there? We shouldn't be able to travel worlds with the Waves."

The Shield Hero tapped on his shield absentmindedly, "After the Wave, I found a piece of your armor that had broken off."

"You mean the antenna from my cloak." The hunter guessed, having noticed the small piece had broken off during the rain of magical fire.

Naofumi nodded, "That's what I thought it was. Anyway, it unlocked a new shield called the 'Time Turner'."

'Time Turner, huh?' Shade said, 'Makes sense for being unlocked with Vex metal. Though that begs the question…'

"When did you arrive in the city?" Lance finished.

Naofumi shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know. It was during an attack though. Those… alien things, the Fallen I think they were called, were attacking the city throughout this gigantic hole in the wall."

The hunter rests his hand on his helmeted chin, "If you met Charlom and Reginald there as well, then you most likely appeared in the city during the Breach a few years ago."

"The Breach?" The Shield Hero asked.

"It's what people call that event." Lance said, "I'm wondering why they didn't say anything about you. They're usually very detailed in their reports. They're exos after all." He mumbled the last part.

Naofumi heard it though, "What's an exo?" He asked, confused at the term.

"They're… how should I say it without being insulting?" The hunter asked himself, "They're… robots, in a sense, but they don't follow predetermined programs like frames do. They have their own personality and thoughts."

"Like AI." Naofumi reasoned.

"Sure." Lance confirmed, "That's actually a pretty good example."

"Is that what all Guardians are?" The Shield Hero asked, the thought suddenly coming to mind.

The hunter scoffed, "No. Of course not. In fact, most Guardians are human."

"What does that make you?" Naofumi asked.

"I'm human." Lance answered simply.

"Kind of hard to believe that with a helmet on your head." The Shield Hero stated.

The hunter understood what that meant, but hesitated at the idea. He still hadn't fully pinned down if people covered in illusion magic were visible to his sensors or not. He was still paranoid at removing his helmet.

'I know the risk of it,' Shade stated, 'But it is kind of hard for someone to trust another if they've never seen their face.'

The paranoid hunter agreed with that, and against his better judgment, hesitantly removed his helmet.

It was quickly obvious that he was human, around 21 years old. He ran his fingers through his messy, short black hair that sat atop his head. His hair was complemented by dark purple eyes that seemed to glow if you looked at them enough, and his skin was a pale complextion.

"Huh," Naofumi stated, "You honestly look like I expected you would."

Lance just shrugged his shoulders before speaking, "Now, tell me what happened when you were in the city."

"Well," The Shield Hero started, "When I first got there, nothing real special happened until that alien thing attacked me."

"Did it have four arms, scrap armor, and swords?" The hunter asked.

"Yeah, actually." Noafumi answered, a little surprised, "It could turn invisible too."

Lance nodded, "It was a Murader then, a member of the Fallen that specializes in stealth tech and maneuvers."

"Huh." Naofumi simply stated before continuing, "I ran from the 'Marauder', but I wasn't able to get away from it. But when it finally pinned me down, it was punched, and killed, by that Reginald guy. I stuck with him, even as we headed straight for the giant hole in the wall. When we got there, the other Guardian, Charlom, was fending off an attack being made by… I dunno, hundreds of those Fallen things. A plane was shot down by a tank like thing that came through the wall, one that Reginald and Charlom took down. During that though, something strange happened."

Lance raised an eyebrow, "Oh? What do you mean by that?"

"Well," Naofumi continued, "Reginald and Charlom pulled out these purple shields during the battle. That's not the strange part. What was strange is the fact that, when being attacked by another one of those Marauders, my shield turned into the same purple shield that they used."

Lance sat up straight in surprise, "You summoned a Sentinel's shield?" His voice showed the same surprise, "Have you been able to do it again?"

Naofumi shook his head, "No. I don't know why either. I looked everywhere in my shield's menus for it, but there was nothing like it."

"I see…" The hunter responded, "Maybe it has to do with proximity?"

"All I know is that it was powerful." The Shield Hero stated matter of factly.

Lance chuckled, "I would imagine so. I wasn't lying when I said Sentinels were powerful."

"That kinda brings up something else I wanted to know about this." Naofumi said, "Just what happened to Earth to have the need for Guardians? What are Guardians really."

The hunter was silent for a second before he sighed, "That, Naofumi, is a very long story."

The Shield Hero sat back in his chair and crossed his arms, "Then let's hear it."

The hunter sighed again and stood up, "Alright. Shade, help me with this."

"Who's Sha-" Was all Naofumi could get out before a flash of light appeared, revealing the ghost known as Shade in all of his glory.

"What is that?!" The Shield Hero exclaimed at the sudden appearance of the construct.

"My name is Shade," The ghost states cheerfully, "And I'm a ghost. Well, Lance's ghost to be specific."

"Alright." Naofui said slowly, "Why are you here?"

"He's going to help explain the answer to your question." Lance answered simply, "Speaking of which, let's get started."

"From we can tell," Shade started, "In the year 2050-2060 or so, humanity discovered something floating over Mars. After a few years, the nations of the world launched an expedition to the red planet to figure out what it was. What they found was the Traveler."

"It's floating above the city, so you should have seen it when you were there." Lance clarified, causing Naofumi to nod.

Shade continued, "After that, humanities Golden Age started. The Traveler moved from planet to planet, terraforming each one. The Traveler gave humanity advances in technology like never before. We were suddenly capable of interstellar flight among other incredible things. The human lifespan even tripled!" The ghost exclaimed.

"But," Lance picked up, "Nothing ever stays perfect. The Traveler is known as the embodiment of Light, something that protects humanity. After an unknown amount of time, the Light's mortal enemy found us."

"Let me guess," Naofumi stated, "It was the Darkness."

Shade seemed to shrug, "Rather unoriginal, I know, but yeah. The darkness brought many different enemies with it, each one as deadly as the last, and with them, it brought the Collapse. We don't know what came first, but the planets of the Solar System didn't last long. With one final push, the Traveler managed to push the Darkness out, but it sacrificed itself in the progress. It sat itself above the Last City before using its final breath to create the ghosts, like me. We search the many worlds of our solar system for people capable of wielding the Light as a weapon and make them Guardians."

"As Guardians," Lance took over, "It is our duty to keep the remaining remnants of the Darkness in our system away from the Last City and those who live there. I've been at it for six years now, but there is still no real end to their forces. Though, in the past five years, significant progress has been made due to the efforts of two Guardians. Logan Midnight and Salazar Stone"

Naofumi scoffed, "I doubt two people, even Guardians, could do a lot to a threat on a scale like that."

"You'd be surprised what two determined people with guns could do." Lance stated matter of factly, "They were not alone though. They, along with Scarlet Pang, formed Fireteam Wild and went off into the system taking out major threats one by one. First, it was the Black Heart, a god like being to the Vex. Next, with the help of another fireteam, they raided the Vault of Glass on Venus, destroying the Vex mind known as Atheon."

"I'm sorry," Naofumi interrupted, "But what are the Vex?"

"Oh, right." The hunter said, "We should probably tell you the races in our system before explaining the timeline." He turned to his ghost, "Shade."

The ghost nodded(?) before moving above the nearby table and projecting a hologram of the Fallen the Shield Hero had seen before, "You've already seen the Fallen. They're the main force we see on Earth. They scavenge the ruins of the world for old technology and other scrap to use. Think of them as space pirates."

The Fallen hologram was replaced by the picture of a skeletal like creature, hunched over with razor-like claws as its fingers, "This is a Thrall, the lowest ranking Hive troop. The Hive are primarily focused on the Moon. They burrow deep into the planet they are on to make their fortresses. They love their dark magic."

The Hive hologram shifted into the image of a robot with a triangular head, "This is a Goblin, a Vex troop. The Vex are a robotic race that have existed longer than time itself… as far as we can tell. They can control time to some extent. Along with that, they run simulations of every scenario you would ever come across in order to find a way to win."

"Is it just me," Naofumi started, turning to Lance, "Or does your armor look like that thing?"

"Your right." The hunter confirmed, "In fact, I used Light cleansed Vex metal to forge it."

"That explains the shield effect." The Shield Hero mumbled.

The hologram changed to an armored alien that closely resembled a turtle, "The Cabal are a race bred for war. They took over the majority of Mars, building strongholds and keeping the tide of Vex at bay."

The hologram changed again, this time into the Thrall again. The difference between this and the normal Thrall though was the color. This new one was black and white in color, "This is one of the Taken. They are troops from the other races that had their will taken by certain Ascendant Hive and used to fight."

The hologram changed one last time. This time it was what looked like a twisted version of the Fallen with a key like helmet on its head, "This race only showed up recently. They used to be the Fallen, but they consumed dark ether and became twisted for it. We've started to call them Scorn."

"Anyway," Lance stated before continuing, "After the Vault raid, Eris Morn, the resident Hive expert, alerted Fireteam Wild of an increase of Hive activity on Earth. That rabbit hole led to the destruction of Crota's soul, Crota being the god prince of the Hive. To make sure he died, Fireteam Wild and Foothold went into Hellmouth and destroyed Crota in his ascendant realm. As it turned out, Crota had a father named Oryx, and he didn't like that they killed his son. Oryx came into our system to seek vengeance for his son, but in the end, it was Fireteams Wild and Foothold who won."

"It wasn't until the next winter that something happened." The hunter continued, "Lord Saladin, the last Iron Lord, gave the call for Salazar Stone to recapture Felwinter Peak. It was there that we discovered that the Fallen had found a forgotten technology. The Siva. They used it to resurrect some of their fallen leaders as machine 'gods'." He used finger quotes around gods.

"Wait, hold on." Naofumi interrupted, making a timeout signature with his hands, "Resurrected? The Fallen brought things back from the dead?"

Shade scoffed, "Of course not. The Fallen don't have that kind of technology. They just used Siva to reanimate some of their own."

The Shield Hero nodded, "That's what I thought. I mean, even with advanced technology, I can't raise anything from the dead."

The ghost said nothing as Lance spoke, "Yes, it's completely preposterous. Now then, after Fireteam Wild shut down Siva production, reports came in about the remaining Siva infused Fallen amounting for an attack on the city. Wanting to prevent that, Fireteams Wild and Foothold attacked the leaders of the assault. This time though, only four of the six came back. Salazar Stone and Logan Midnight never came back." The hunter said in a somber tone.

"So the two that started it all died, huh." Naofumi stated with little remorse.

"I never said they died." Lance responded, "No one saw them go down after all. They're just MIA."

The Shield Hero scoffed, "And they haven't contacted anyone? I think that's unlikely."

"Contrary to popular belief," Lance said, "Guardians find it hard to believe that they could die." He finished with a tone that told him to drop that certain topic, before continuing the story, "After the Siva incident, we had about 6-8 months of relative peace before we were attacked. When it happened, nobody was expecting it, and we paid for it. The Traveler was captured in a cage that ripped our Light, our powers, from us. It was thanks to the efforts of Yohan Walker that we took back the Traveler and fended off the invasion."

"The Traveler reawoke and its Light once again spread across the system." Shade stated happily, "But, it did have some side effects."

"At first, it wasn't so bad. We found Osiris after all." Lance followed, "But in order to get him, Scarlet Pang and Emily Stone entered the Infinite Forest on Mercury and destroyed its Vex mind. Following this, the Warmind, Rasputin, woke up on Mars when the Hive he froze reawoke due to the Light. The commander of that legion of Hive happened to be one of their worm gods, Xol. Fireteam Foothold led the charge to kill that Hive beast. We had little time to rest after that before a riot started at the Prison of Elders in the Reef, letting prisoners escape. We didn't expect what happened next…" The hunter's tone turned somber, saddened even.

"The hunter Vanguard was killed," Shade spoke in a saddened tone, "Cayde-6. He was… eccentric, and he liked a good adventure. Naturally, he and one of his favorite Guardians, Emily Stone, went to the Prison of Elders to stop the riot. They were expecting Cayde though. They ambushed him. They killed him."

"And the Guardians sought revenge against the man who did it." The hunter declared, "It wasn't a hunter who put the bullet through his head though. It was the warlock who went with him, Emily Stone."

"Is that it?" Naofumi asked after a moment of silence from the hunter and his ghost, "I feel like you left out a lot."

Lance shrugged, "A lot of little things happened, I just mentioned the bigger things over the past few years."

"Then where were you during all of this?" The Shield Hero asked, not hearing one mention of the hunter in all of this.

Said hunter smirked, "I was doing what is arguably the most important job, collecting information. I also stopped the Fallen from stealing Black Armory technology a month before all of this happened." His expression then turned slightly confused, "You know, your taking this better than I thought you would, even with a lot of finer details left out left out"

Naofumi shrugged, "It's not like it'll happen in my lifetime, and it's easier to believe you when, 1, you have a talking robot that can project holograms with you, and 2, I've seen it for myself."

Lance shrugged, "Fair enough."

"I'm not a robot." The ghost quietly muttered.

"Is there anything specific you would like to know?" The hunter said, ignoring his floating companion.

Naofumi shook his head, "Unless you know of a way for me to get that 'Sentinel Shield' back, then no."

The hunter only shrugged, "The only way I can think of getting you that shield is for you to get it from a titan. You know, letting your shield have more exposure with them."

The Shield Hero sighed while scowling, "I expected as much. First time I feel powerful with this stupid shield and I have to travel to another world to get it."

"We could always see what more Vex metal would do with your shield." Shade suggested, only to be shot down by Naofumi.

"No thank you. One time was enough." The Shield Hero stated firmly, causing Lance to chuckle.

Only to stop at the sound of footsteps coming down the hall, "Shade, who do those belong to?" The hunter questions, getting Naofumi to notice the sound and tense up.

"One of them is Rifana." The ghost stated, picking up the signal sent by the girl's earpiece, "And I'm assuming the other is Raphtalia." The ghost disappeared in a flash of light at the end of the statement.

"Ah. Good, they were gone for a bit longer than I expected." Lance stated as Naofumi relaxed.

"At least we finished the conversation before they got here." The Shield Hero stated, "Now, what do you plan on doing until the next Wave?" Naofumi asked out of the blue.

The question wasn't ignored though, "Traveling I suppose." The hunter answered simply, "There is more I want to explore of the region."

The footsteps outside stopped at the door and was followed by a knock and the door opening, "We're back Master Naofumi." Raphtalia stated happily as she came in with two plates of food, followed by Rifana with only one plate.

Rifana quickly froze at seeing the helmetless hunter though.

"Here Master Naofumi." Raphtalia happily stated as she put one of the plates on the table in front of the Shield Hero as she sat down.

"You know, you didn't have to get me something." Naofumi stated, but a smile was on his face nonetheless.

"What took you girls so long anyway?" Lance asked them.

That snapped Rifana from her frozen pause, "W-well, the people here don't seem that keen to demi-humans." She said, laughing nervously at the end, her face a little red.

Lance sighed as he and Rifana sat down, Lance sitting across from Naofumi and Rifana across from Raphtalia, "Unfortunately, that makes sense. The people of this country are abnormally racist for some reason."

"Unless it happens to be a kid they're talking to." Naofumi scoffed as he took a bite of his meal.

The hunter shrugged slightly at the statement, trusting the shielder's word.

Out of the corner of his eye, Lance noticed Rifana looking at him with a strange face, "Is something wrong Rifana?"

She panicked for a second, "No, no. Nothing at all. It's just… I've never seen you without your helmet."

That caused Naofumi and Raphtalia to pause as Lance nodded lightly and responded, "That's right, I haven't taken this thing off in a couple of weeks." He then breathed in a little deeper, leaning back in his seat and closing his eyes, "I didn't realize how much I needed the fresh air."

"You've got to be kidding me." Naofumi stated, his mouth agape, "You haven't taken your helmet off in weeks?"

"Not since we got to this world." The hunter stated, his head still leaded back.

"W-wha - how are you able to eat anything with that on?" The Shield Hero asked in shock.

"I don't." Lance answered, "It's one of the perks of being a Guardian. We don't require food, drinks, sleep, or any other bodily function really."

The room was silent for a second as the Shield Hero and his companion, Rifana was eating as she was used to the behavior, looked at him in envy slash confusion, before Naofumi spoke out, "That's just cheating."

Lance just chuckled.

**(Outside The Inn - Some Time Later)**

For a few more hours, the heroes and their companions talked about what they had done over the past month and what they planned to do next.

Raphtalia was super grateful when she heard that Lance and Rifana had slain the three headed dog, Cerberus, and ended up hugging the Bow Hero.

After learning that the illusion wouldn't last forever, Naofumi had told the hunter he was going to visit the slave trader to see if he had a way to hide the rune more permanently. Raphtalia, for a reason the hunter couldn't fathom, convinced the Shield Hero to keep the crest on.

Before leaving, Lance had Naofumi promise to keep an eye and ear out for anyone with Holy magic, even if he only had a faint idea of why.

Right now, the hunter was waiting for Rifana to finish her goodbyes with Raphtalia before they split up to travel and prepare for the next wave. With his helmet back on, he stood outside of the inn and waited for her. He idaly paid attention to his surroundings, listening to passing conversations.

None of them interested him though, most of them being gossip and rumors he had heard a thousand times.

That was, until a pair of men stepped out of the so-called 'Adventures Guild' nearby.

"If it keeps going on like this," The younger man said sadly, "We can kiss our village goodbye."

"Who knows how long it will take for someone to take our post." The older man said, "It's not like every adventurer can go against a lord."

'Politics then.' Lance thought as he heard the conversation, 'Not my forte.'

'Who knows what it is.' Shade stated, 'Maybe the lord is having people killed.'

The hunter silently scoffed, 'That would be a way bigger problem. It would be one I could help with though.'

'Then maybe you should speak to them, find out what is going on.' The ghost suggested.

Lance sighed, 'Even if it is a case of assassinations, or something similar, it would just get in the way of our search. We've already taken too long in that department.'

The ghost didn't have a chance to respond to his statement though, as a voice piped up next to him, "Excuse me, are you one of the Heroes of Legend?" It was the younger man.

Lance was about to ask how the man came to that conclusion, but then realized that his gold and ivory bow was in full view for anyone to see.

The hunter sighed, "Yes, I am. Why do you ask?" He already knew why, and he had a bad feeling about it.

The two men bowed before pleading to the hero, "Please Sir Hero, listen to our request!"

Lance wanted to say no. He wanted to just move on back out into the wilds in his search for villages that might have a Holy magic user.

But as he looked at them bowing, his sense of justice kicked in.

More accurately, his sense of protecting kicked in.

He sighed, "Go ahead, I'm listening."

He just knew he was going to regret this sooner or later.

**(End)**

**Chapter 11 - The Tower Of Sparks Part 1 - May 11**


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer - I do not own the Destiny franchise or The Rising of the Shield Hero

Just wanted to clear a misconception from the last chapter. Cayde was killed by Uldren in this AU, that hasn't changed. I was just stating that it was a Warlock who avenged him and not a hunter like one would have expected.

**Chapter 11 - The Tower Of Sparks: Part 1**

**(Rifana)**

As Rifana walked next to the filolial pulled carriage, she thought back as to why she was here.

It was a request made by two men that had started speaking to Lance-sama as they were about to head out of town. Apparently, the lord of their area was a tyrant who had started to impose large taxes on the people he ruled over.

At first, it seemed that Lance-sama was going to refuse, saying that he didn't know how to deal with politics, whatever that meant. However, thinking that this was the exact thing a hero should be doing, Rifana had managed to convince him to accept.

She did have some help from Shade though.

As she thought about the hero, the image of his uncovered face appeared in her head again.

She was surprised to see him without it when she entered the room a few days ago. After all, he had never taken it off. She had even begun to think that it wasn't a helmet, and instead it was just how the people from his world looked like.

But that was all quickly dashed away when she saw his face. His pearly white skin and midnight black hair mixed perfectly with his dark, purple eyes that she could stare into forev-

'No! Stop it!' She thought to herself angrily as her face heated up with a blush, 'You're on the job, fantasize about that later!'

Rifana looked at the carriage next to her. It carried supplies mostly, the only exception being the two men who had given them the job. They had offered Lance and Rifana seats inside the carriage, but Lance-sama refused.

Rifana had tried it for a little bit, but quickly found out she had what Lance-sama called 'motion sickness'. She chose to walk after that.

It wasn't that hard to keep up either. It seemed that the cart was filled with goods for the town the men came from, Greenpine Village if she remembered.

Lance-sama was walking the other side of the carriage, making it so each side was guarded from potential attack. It was unlikely though, the roads were kept safe by regular patrols from the king's soldiers.

"Woah." The older man, Kiroki, said calmly as he pulled the reins of the filolials, effectively slowing them to a stop. It was around midday, so she expected this.

They stopped around this time everyday to take a break, eat lunch and things like that. It was mainly to let the filolials rest after the few hours of pulling.

She looked around the area as the two men stepped off of the carriage. It was a mostly flat plain, a few hills being the only thing that broke the flatness.

One thing really stood out though.

About a mile away, a tower could be seen clearly behind some hills. It's design wasn't that strange. In fact, it seemed to be made out of the custom building materials of stone and reinforced wood.

What made it stand out wasn't the design. It was instead the lightning that covered its surface.

The entire tower was a sparking mess of lightning that seemed to travel from brick to brick. The higher up the tower you looked, the more broken it was with the only thing holding it together being the lightning.

It got to a point where the wooden roof was chared black from the constant lighting and the room it was attached to was open to the world to see. The walls of the room were still there, the lightning keeping them near the building.

"What is that?" Rifana quietly muttered to herself, only to attract the attention of Lance-sama, who was helping Kiroki and Hiro, the younger man, unload a few supplies from the carriage.

After placing down what he was carrying, he stepped over to where she was and overlooked the scene himself.

'I can't get the best scan from here,' Shade spoke in her ear, making her suppress the urge to jump, still not used to the voice in her ear, 'But I'm positive that there's enough energy to power a good fourth of the city jumping around in that structure.'

"What does that mean?" A confused Rifana whispered in question.

Before the ghost could answer, Lance-sama did, "It would be enough power to level the entire city of Melromarc to the ground in a good few seconds." He stated matter of factly.

"Woah." Was all the girl had to say in response.

"But what is that kind of power doing in the middle of nowhere?" Lance-sama asked aloud, but mostly to himself.

"Ah, so you're interested in the infamous 'Tower of Sparks', huh?" A familiar voice sounded behind them.

Apparently, Kiroki heard him.

"Is that really it's name?" Lance-sama asked as they turned to the older man.

Kiroki chuckled lightly, "No, it's just what most people call it. It does give the appearance." Rifana and the Bow Hero nodded at that, "According to the Sword Hero, it's actually named the 'Arcane Tesla'."

The two of them perked up at the mention of the hero, "Ren found it?" Lance-sama said, "Did he say anything about what he found inside?"

Kiroki shook his head, "No. In fact, I don't think he even entered the tower, something about a level requirement."

"A level requirement, huh?" Lance-sama murmured as he turned back to the tower.

'What kind of building would have a level requirement?' Shade asked himself.

Hiro joged up to them just a second later, "Lunch is ready sir." The young man reported to Kiroki, causing the older man to put his hands to geater in a clap.

"Good, good." The man said before turning to Lance-sama, "Are you going to join us today Sir Hero, or are you going to skip it again?"

In an unsurprising move, the hero politely declined, "I'm good, but thanks for the offer." What he said next, however, did surprise the others a little bit, "I actually wanted to check the 'Tower of Sparks' myself."

Rifana quickly perked up at his words, ready for a chance to be alone with him again after a couple of days of travel, only to be shot down by the next thing he said as he turned to her.

"Rifana, I want you to stay here and watch over camp." The Bow Hero stated.

Rifana wanted to retort, but settled on pouting instead. She understood why. The others couldn't fight in case of an attack after all.

"Are you sure you'll be fine going alone?" Kiroki asked the hero, "You don't know what you'll be facing in there."

Lance-sama shrugged, "It's not like I'm looking for a fight. If there's any monsters in there, I'll just sneak past them. I just want to know what's in there and why it needs a level requirement."

"Just let him be, old man." Hiro stated, stepping closer to the conversation, "He'll be fine, he's a hero after all."

"Just be careful." Was all Rifana said, knowing the hero was strong enough to handle… probably anything that could be thrown at him.

The hunter nodded to her before leaving the group, jogging to the sparking tower with bow in hand. Kiroki just shook his head while Hiro chuckled lightly at the quick departure.

The two of them plus Rifana moved over to where Hiro had set up. Just a simple seating arrangement with a supply crate with a cloth over it as a table. Like the arrangement, the food was simple as it was just some sandwiches.

"So," Kiroki started after a minute of eating, turning to Rifana, "Is it normal for him to skip meals?"

The girl nodded, "Yeah. It was a little strange for me at first, but after two weeks of it with him not slowing down I got used to it."

That made the two men stop mid bite.

"Two weeks?" Hiro said in disbelief.

"Is he even human?" Kiroki asked.

To that, Rifana shrugged, "He looks human, but he calls himself a Guardian. I think that's one of the races in the world he comes from?"

Kiroki found himself nodding, "That would make sense considering his behavior. Does he do anything else you would find strange?"

"Ah, well." Rifana stated, not quite knowing whether or not to say anything on the matter. In the end, she did relent, "He doesn't sleep."

Hiro stood up in a second, "I knew it!" He exclaimed, "He's the one that always keeps watch."

"Someone who never needs to eat or sleep." Kiroki said, "That sounds like the perfect warrior, just the kind of person we need as a hero."

Rifana chuckled at their behavior before flinching at a sudden headache.

The men noticed and turned to her, "Are you alright Rifana-san?" Kiroki asked her.

"Yeah, it's just a headache." She answered as another spike came up, making her flinch again. It was then that she noticed the level she gained.

No, not level, levels.

A full 15 levels since the last time she checked.

"What the…" Another spike of pain followed by another 4 levels, bringing her up to Level 62.

"What's wrong?" Hiro asked in a slightly more worried tone at hearing her.

"It's just…" Rifana started, "I just gained 19 levels." Another spike of pain, "Make that 23."

"What the?!" Hiro exclaimed, "What could be causing that?"

Kiroki, however, nodded, "That would explain the headache."

Both of them turned to him, Rifana flinching at an influx of more levels, putting her at Level 71, "What do you mean by that?" Hiro asked the older man.

"I've only read about it," He clarified, "But I believe you're experiencing what's known as a 'Level Overdose'. Basically, from what I understand, everytime you gain a level you also gain things like increased strength and intelligence. Most of the time, you would barely feel the increase due to how little you get each time. But if you were to level up a lot in a short amount, you would most certainly feel it."

Rifana nodded as she felt another spike of pain, her Level increasing to 74. That didn't help her much though, as she just felt herself become dizzy.

"Lance-sama must be killing monsters then." She said a little slowly, causing Hiro to face her again.

"You two share EXP?" He asked, a little confused only to get smacked in the back of the head.

"That's how the party system works you numsku…" That was all she heard Kiroki say before her head spiked again, not only sending her to Level 78 but also making her world go black.

**(Lance)**

The 'Tower of Sparks' was, in all honesty, a little intimidating.

The tower stood tall. If he had to make a rough guess, he would say it was 200 feet tall, but that was probably an exaggeration.

As soon as Lance stepped up to the door, a wooden doorway charred black and covered in lightning that blocked the way, a popup appeared.

[Arcane Tesla - Dungeon]

[A tower arcing with unnatural lightning that seems to be alive. It is believed that a master lightning mage once lived here.]

[Level Required - 95]

'A dungeon?' Shade stated, confused, 'It doesn't mean something like the Shattered Throne, does it?'

"I doubt it." The hunter answered aloud, no one nearby to hear, "I can understand why Ren passed it up now though. It's not likely that he would be at this level sooner than Rifana at our pace."

'How are we supposed to get in though,' Shade wondered, 'The doorway is blocked by at least 6000 milliamps of pure electricity.'

The hunter whistled, that was a lot of electricity, enough to kill at least 30 men. Lance had an idea though.

Simply, he put his hand through the electricity.

'Lance!' Shade exclaimed at the action, only to pause as nothing happened.

Lance smiled, "I was right then. It only affects those who don't meet the level requirement."

'And if that wasn't the case?' Shade asked a little heatedly.

"Then you could revive me on the other side and have you teleport to me." The hunter answered simply, making the ghost pause.

'... Let's just go.' Was Shade's response after a few seconds, causing Lance to chuckle.

The hunter stepped past the door's electrical barrier and into the structure. It was a room, not that big, with a single door. The room was empty of furniture and other evidence of people.

All except for the charred skeleton that Lance accidentally stepped on.

The skull broke under his boot, emitting a crack that drew Lance's attention. As he looked down and realized what it was, he awkwardly lifted his foot and stepped away from it muttering, "Sorry."

Getting a better look at the charred skeleton, Lance could see that it was once an adventurer. At least, it had the gear for one. Their light leather armor survived without a single scratch, the same went for their weapons. The dagger on their waist was of no use for the hunter, he couldn't hold it after all.

A bow was next to their hand, but it was just a wooden hunting bow, so it was also of no use to him. The quiver though…

Lance said another quick apology before carefully taking the quiver off of the skeletons back. It was almost empty, all except for two arrows.

The first was normal. It was a field point arrowhead, good for hunting small animals and bigger game as well, if you hit your shots.

The other arrow was strange. It was a broadhead, that was obvious, but its head was bigger than it was supposed to be. Way bigger.

Interested, the hunter brought the arrow to his bow, touching the arrowhead to the gem. Instantly, the arrow disappeared and a popup replaced it.

[Climbing Arrows Unlocked]

Lance hummed. Another arrow for his collection.

During his journey, he quickly discovered he could add new types of arrows to his metaphorical quiver if he absorbed them into his bow. Since then, he has amassed a small collection of arrows he found useful, like Grapple Arrows and Flaming Arrows.

Lance and Shade assume that this is what the help menu meant when it said you could unlock things by absorbing materials. At least, it's the only thing that makes sense because no matter what, you can't just make a bow out of anything. A bow needs a lot of things to craft in order for it to work. They had tried absorbing some things that weren't arrows but it never worked, as expected.

Arrows did work, so there was that.

Looking at the arrow popup made Lance aware of another popup.

[Level Above Required - Scaling Dungeon Level To Match Highest Level]

[New Dungeon Level - 240]

"That might be a problem." Lance muttered.

'I don't really think so.' Shade responded, 'It just means that you'll be evenly matched by this world's standards.'

"Either way, I don't plan to fight. I just want to know what's here." The hunter stated before his hand lit up.

Touching his head with a light covered hand, a cold feeling started to wash over his body. The cold feeling was matched by his body turning translucent wherever he felt it. It only took a second for the illusion magic to completely cover his body.

'You know,' Shade said, 'You could just use a smoke bomb for that.'

'Yeah,' Lance responded mentally as talking would break the illusion, 'But this lasts longer, and I can attack without breaking it.'

The hunter moved to the door with silent footsteps, opening it quieter than it should have been able too. It was only opened enough for him to step through though, closing it behind him.

The room he had stepped into was large, possibly taking up the rest of the floor and more with how high the ceiling was. There were four double doors on the walls around the room, two on each side of the room. Bookshelves were covering the rest of the walls, though they were missing all of their books. At the back of the room, there was a metal door, blocking his way to what he assumed was the rest of the tower. Wooden tables had been pushed to the ground, some on their sides with others completely destroyed.

Looking at the ceiling, he noticed wire like cables that led to the metal door and the other doors as well. The starting point for the wires were behind him, on either side of the door he entered. The wires connected to two empty metal boxes that had an orb like slot in them.

An interesting detail was that there was no hint of electricity anywhere in the room, even though the outer walls made it seem like the power was coursing through the building.

Lance's thoughts didn't stay on that though.

Dodging the scraps of the broken tables, the hunter silently made his way to the metal door. When he did get there, he found nothing but the door.

'Let me see what I can do about this.' Shade said, appearing before Lance could say anything. He floated in front of the door and sent out a beam of light to scan it.

As soon as the beam hit the door though, the other doors in the room slammed open. Shade disappeared back into Lance's head as a still invisible hunter faced the doors.

More importantly, what was coming out of them.

They were panthers, no, black cougars. They weren't completely black though. There was a light blue gem on each of their foreheads. The gem sent visible electricity across their bodies, but they didn't seem to mind. In all, there were about 15 of them.

Above their head was the usual information. Their names were simply 'Lightning Cat'. Their level, however, was more of a concern. It was all the way at 240, the same as his.

They walked into the room, looking around in confusion that there was no target for their aggression. They sniffed the ground and general area, looking for whatever triggered them.

Not wanting to get dragged into a fight, that he might not be able to avoid now, he crept around them with his bow handy. He didn't know how good the monsters' sense of smell was, so he wasn't sure he could sneak past them at all.

It was actually going good until Lance was halfway across the room. That was until one of the creatures shot their head up and looked in his direction. The lightning around its body flared for a second. Whatever it did, it caused the cat to crouch low and growl lower, attracting the attention of the other cats.

'Well, guess you're fighting.' Shade stated as the first creature lept at his invisible form, causing the illusion to break.

The leaping creature's head was impaled by an arrow of light before it made it within a foot of the hunter, dropping dead instantly.

_Rifana Leveled Up! _

_Rifana Leveled Up! _

_Rifana Leveled Up! _

_Rifana Leveled Up! _

_Rifana Leveled Up! _

_Rifana Leveled Up! _

_Rifana Leveled Up! _

_Rifana Leveled Up! _

_Rifana Leveled Up! _

_Level 52_

Lance idaly noticed the level up notifications before he subconsciously pushed them to the side in favor of killing the other hostile beasts.

One after another, the creatures came at him, only to meet the same fate of an arrow through the head. It would've been quick, except for the fact that every time one of them died, they were replaced by another just as quickly.

His Legendary Bow was quickly swapped for the Le Monarque in favor of it's poison. One of the cats saw an opportunity and struck during the switch. It didn't succeed in its endeavor though, only getting a poisonous arrow stabbed into its neck.

That was something else Lance discovered he could do. He found out that the arrows he used for the bow weren't necessarily summoned to the bow, they were summoned to his hand. With that, he could use them like knives in a way, but only the stabbing part.

The action was followed by an arrow being let loose into a small group of approaching creatures. The poison only stunned them however, making the hunter hit them with another arrow each to finish them off.

Lance was running around the room at this point, keeping as far away as he could from the claws of the creatures.

Melee was the weakness of a ranger after all.

Reaching the side of the room, the hunter launched himself into the air by kicking down with his double jump. He grabbed onto the top of a bookcase, bringing himself to the top. From there he had an easy time sniping the creatures who tried to get close enough.

The flow of them didn't stop though. More and more appeared out of their doors. The beasts had started to claw at the bottom of the bookcase, only to start burning in purple flames and poison as Lance threw a Voidwall Grenade at the base of it.

All of the monsters were the same, so he was slightly caught off guard when an object raced through the air and towards him. His instincts took over though, letting him catch the object and stab it with another arrow.

That's when he found out it was a creature, a white bird to be specific. Its name stayed above its head for a second after it died, showing it to be a creature called 'Thunder Hawk' with a level of 240.

A second after it died, it sent out a small shockwave of electricity, nothing lethal, that changed its body into an orb of pure, sparking power.

'I'm guessing that's important.' Shade stated the obvious, Lance nodding.

Putting together the details, Lance put his bow onto his back, the orb needing two hands to hold, and picked up said orb. In a crazy move, he jumped into the enemy horde.

Well, on top of them to be more specific.

With the help of gravity, Lance's boots caved in the head of the monster he landed on, killing it instantly. The creatures paused, confused as to why their prey would jump from his perch. This gave the hunter time to drop a smoke bomb into the crowd, and not the one that turns you invisible.

With the creature distracted, Lance ran straight to the door he had come in from. Instead of leaving though, he shoved the sparking orb into the metal box next to the door.

The reaction was instant.

The box sent out a large shockwave of electricity, pushing Lance back as he drew his bow. The wires in the room sparked to life as electricity flowed through them, lifting the metal door up a little bit and slamming metal bars across two of the doorways the monsters were coming from.

'Huh, that worked.' Shade stated as Lance shot more lightning covered cougars, 'I'll keep a look out for more of them.'

The hunter didn't respond as he spotted a new monster enter the room. It was a skeleton, bones charred black. A simple bow was in its hand. Above its head was 'Lightning Charred Skeleton' and its level was, again, 240.

They didn't look all that impressive as two of them stumbled out of a doorway. What they did next though made them the biggest danger in the room.

Both of the skeletons drew an arrow from their hip mounted quivers, placing them on their bow strings in perfect sync. A second before the arrows launched, they sparked to life with crackling arrowheads.

Lance dodged the arrows, but involuntarily froze when they hit the ground and summoned bolts of lightning from nowhere, hitting the hunter directly and dealing damage as well as stunning him.

'Oh no.' Shade unnecessary stated as Lance was launched across the room by one of the electrified cats.

He slammed into a wall and took damage for it, his health now going down for the first time in this fight. More than he expected in fact, going down to 81% max health.

The stun wore off as soon as he hit the wall, thankfully, allowing him to shoot two more arrows out of the air with his own bow followed by two more well placed arrows destroying the skeletons.

After his second arrow was fired, Lance brought his bow down to smack one of the cats that thought the hunter was open. An arrow followed as the cat was stunned.

The familiar whistle of arrows drew Lance's attention to more of the skeletons, making him growl as he sniped their arrows out of the air. He didn't bother destroying them, having something else in mind.

While running up to and kicking off of an electrified cat's head, Lance drew back an arrow and aimed at the ceiling of the room. The arrow was different though.

Instead of being the poisonous purple arrow of Le Monarque, it was completely made of steel. Wrapped around the shaft was a thin but strong wire, capable of supporting the hunter's body for a short while. This was the Grapple Arrow.

The arrow was let loose as Lance made his first jump, the arrow impacting the ceiling a second later with the wire connecting to the bow. With the bow and his second jump, he climbed the wire to the ceiling.

He quickly wrapped the wire around his leg and disconnected the wire from the bow, effectively leaving him hanging himself upside down on the ceiling of the room.

After shooting two more electrified arrows out of the air, Lance breathed deep and reached into the familiar Void. The purple flames responded like normal, forming around Lance's own bow. The flaming arrow was released into the eager crowd of monsters that had formed below him, destroying one on impact and suppressing all of the other monsters in the room.

Two more arrows were all it took to destroy the chained monsters, allowing the hunter to see more file into the room instantly. They only succumbed to the same fate though.

Even the mighty screech of another Lightning Hawk was cut short due to the suppression. Said bird dropped another orb of pure electricity onto the floor of the room.

At the sight, Lance quickly disconnected the wire holding him up from his leg and fell to the floor. At the same time, the teather powered down, releasing the trapped monsters.

The hunter quickly grabbed the arcing ball and dashed to its placement, dodging an electrified cat along the way. As for the archers, a quick shadow dodge was enough to evade their arrows.

The orb was slammed into the container, sending another wave of energy out. This time, not only was Lance pushed back, every enemy left in the room seized up. Only for a second though, as they died a second later, crumbling away.

The other two double doors were blocked by iron bars and the metal door at the end of the room opened.

'... Well,' Shade started, 'That was exciting.'

Lance scoffed as he watched his health go back up, "That was one of the most challenging battles I've had in this world. It would be first if it wasn't for Cerberus." The hunter eyed the now open door at the end of the room, "Think we should continue?"

'Might as well.' The ghost stated, 'There's still a lot to explore.'

"Will it be worth the effort though?" The hunter asked rhetorically as he stepped up the opened door, stopping for only a second to pick up one of the arrows the skeletons had in hand.

[Lightning Strike Arrows Unlocked]

It was easy to see inside of the next room, if you could even call it that. It was a stairwell with a spiraling staircase in the center of it that must have gone up at least 50ft.

At least, it used to.

Right now, the staircase was nothing more than a pile of rubble on the floor.

The hunter kicked a piece of the rubble, "Well, that's not good."

'Maybe you can climb the walls?' Shade stated/asked.

Lance looked at the wooden walls. They were intact, more that expected really. There was nothing big enough to grab, not even holes. In fact, to the untrained eye, there would be no way to climb the tower.

The hunter was anything but untrained however.

Upon closer inspection, he noticed some discoloration in some pieces of the wood. Those same pieces were also slightly damaged, scratch marks and a few gashes here and there.

Looking at it, Lance realized that those must have been the points where the staircase used to connect to the wall.

Though, even this fact would be useless to most trying to scale the tower as they would have no reason to notice the detail.

An idea came to Lance's mind as he looked at it though. Moving around to get the best look he could at it, the hunter drew back and aimed his bow. The arrow on it was a new one, the Climbing Arrow.

Lance fired the arrow, and when it struck the targeted spot, the large arrowhead sunk into the weaker wood.

He put his bow on his back and backed up to gain more distance before he ran at the wall. When he reached it, he kicked off the wall and grabbed onto the arrow, saving his double jump in case the arrow broke.

It held his weight though, allowing him to climb onto it in a crouched position.

'Huh.' Shade stated in surprise, 'I didn't think that would hold your weight.'

Lance shrugged as he redrew his bow and aimed another shot, "Maybe it'll break in a second. I don't want to find out though."

From there, he fired arrow after arrow onto the walls, scaling the tower slowly. Some of the jumps required him to use his double jump, but those were far inbetween.

It was halfway up when Lance was finally able to spot the exit. It was a doorway at the very top, open and not very inviting.

'Oh,' Shade said out of nowhere, startling Lance as he wasn't expecting the sudden voice, 'Rifana's Level 100.'

Lance raised an eyebrow as he aimed his next arrow, "Our kills affected her that much?"

The arrow plunged into the wall, 'It must have been the level difference between her and the monsters we killed.'

"If that's the case," Lance said as he jumped to the arrow he fired, swinging himself onto the top of it, "Then she'll probably be closer to my level by the end of this."

'That would be interesting to see.' Shade responded as the hunter aimed his next shot to continue up.

And up he went. For the next few minutes, all he did was shoot a Climbing Arrow and jump across the room to it. It didn't take long though.

Jumping one last time, Lance landed in the doorway at the top and immediately got an ominous feeling.

It was granted though, there were skeletons covering the floor after all.

The room was small and circular in shape. In the direct center of the room, there was a small shrine with nothing on it.

Covering the floor though, the previously mentioned skeletons were placed. They wore various armors and robes with various weapons near them. Everything from magical staffs to broadswords could be seen in the wreckage.

Most seemed to be pushed towards the walls in an attempt to clear the floor for movement, but one was near the shrine.

Not only that, but there was also no visible exit to the room.

"What happened here?" Lance asked rhetorically as he crouched down to examine the remains of what looked to be an archer, their quiver empty and their bow string disintegrated from time.

'Nothing good.' Shade replied as he took in the scene.

The hunter stood back up and looked back at the shrine, only to stand still in shock at what was now on it.

A ghost, sparking with electricity, but it was a ghost. He stepped towards it, the world suddenly tuned out.

Not that he noticed.

What was a ghost doing here of all places? There shouldn't be any in this world other than Shade and the one in his pocket.

Another step closer, and his boot cracked the arm of the skeleton next to the shrine. He didn't notice though, his mind on the ghost.

A small spark of pain, barely noticeable, went through his skull. He still didn't react though. The ghost was overwhelming his mind.

Another step brought more pain in his head. He didn't react. He needed to collect the ghost to keep it safe.

The next step brought him right next to the shrine. His hand reached out to the ghost as the pain in his head increased.

The ghost flickered.

What?

The Guardian's hand stopped. What was that?

His vision suddenly went fuzzy as he dropped to his knees and released a huge breath of air that he didn't know he was holding.

"Thank the Traveler." Shade exclaimed in relief next to him, "It worked."

The ghost was floating next to Lance's head, a beam of light retracting from the hunter's helmet.

"... What happened." Lance asked Shade and his vision cleared up.

"I don't know." The ghost answered honestly, "You just started acting strange and wouldn't respond to me. You started walking to that shrine, and reached out there was something there."

That got the hunter to stand up quick, "The ghost!" He exclaimed, turning to the shrine.

Only to find it empty.

"Wha…" Lance said, confused and worried as he took a step away from it, "There was a ghost there just a second ago."

"No, there wasn't." Shade said seriously, "There was, and still, nothing there. I think I know why you think otherwise though." The hunter looked at him to continue, "There was… something, reading the neurons in your brain. From what you said, I think it was reading your memories for something."

"Something to entice me." Lance said as his head became clearer. He looked on the floor and picked up a broken, iron arrowhead before he flicked it onto the shrine. The arrowhead cracked and exploded as soon as it hit the shrine, "Whatever it was, it wanted to kill me."

"I managed to establish a makeshift faraday cage with your helmet," Shade stated, "and that managed to stop the connection to… whatever was doing it. We should probably get out of here before it tries it agai-"

A huge pressure hit Lance's helmet for a second before the electrical pain returned to his head.

It wasn't as gentle this time though.

The hunter fell to his knee as he gripped his head as familiar images raced through his mind. All of the enemies the hunter had ever faced filtered through his mind, never stopping on one for more than a second. The images seem to pause on the weapons of the Fallen, but the images never stopped.

That was until the memory of a Crucible match was shown. It wasn't a special match, but he didn't participate in many, not seeing the point in them. Whatever was filtering through the memories though seemed interested in one moment, the same moment an Arcstrider killed him.

The pain disappeared immediately after that memory flashed by, leaving Lance to quickly stand back up, even if it was a little wobbly.

"How did it break through!?" Shade exclaimed as the hunter stood back up.

"I don't think that matters right now." Lance stated, bow in hand.

"What? Why?" The ghost asked in surprise.

"I saw what it was looking for." The hunter answered simply, facing the now sparking shrine. It didn't spark for long before it exploded, forcing Shade to disappear in a flash of light.

In the remains of the shrine was a mass of lightning, branching out with high voltage bolts. The lightning gravitated towards the armor scattered across the skeletons in the room. One by one, pieces of armor flew to the mass of lightning, covering its form in a makeshift set of armor. Knights armor, rogue light armor, and even a mage's tattered cloak covered it's form.

It looked like it was trying to imitate a hunter.

Its joints were still visible, showing that pure lightning was the only thing keeping it together.

The crackling entity extended its gauntleted hand towards the pile of skeletons once again. The loud hum of a magnet was the only warning for the spear that exploded out of the pile and into the entity's hand.

The spear's form didn't hold though. As soon as it hit the entity's hand, the metal of the spear fragmented and exploded outwards, grazing the hunter's armor. What was left was a staff of pure lightning with a very familiar shape.

It held a crackling arcstaff.

Finally, a name appeared above its head, one that was bordered in gold.

{Fulgur, The Imitator - LV 245}

The monster gave him no time, closing the distance in a fraction of a second with a swing of the imitated staff.

If he wasn't expecting it, Lance would have died there.

The exact moment the staff should have reached him, the hunter was already melted into the shadows with his Shadow Step. The staff swept through air, but the imitator didn't stop with the one move.

It flowed into a spin that pressed into Lance's guard, barely missing him and forcing him further back. The hunter gritted his teeth as the creature didn't give him any space.

The constant chase was frustrating, going on for several minutes with no easing, but the imitator finally made a slip.

That slip just happened to be the monster causing a new hole in the wall.

Lance was forced against a wall and had sidestepped under the imitator's guard when it swung its spear with deadly force. Part of the wall had been vaporised, revealing the outside world, but the action also caused the rest of the wall to collapse on the monster.

Unfortunately, it didn't bury the imitator, but it did stagger it. The hunter used the opportunity to get to the other side of the room and force his light into his bow.

The normal purple flames of his Shadow Shot were not as bright, having been shot already in the past hour. It was still there though. The arrow was launched at the now recovered imitator.

Only for the creature to swing its staff at the incoming projectile and vaporise it in a shower of violent sparks.

Lance was so shocked that he almost didn't get his bow in front of him to block the charging staff user. Blocking it wasn't a smart choice though, as the electricity covering the acrstaff once again showed it wasn't just for show and sent countless amps of electricity that Lance's armor barely dampened to a nonlethal dose.

Lance's hand slipped to his belt while the other continued to block the sparking staff and grabbed a spherical grenade. Activating it before the weapon limitation rule took effect and dropping it at the imitator's feet, pushing the staff away with both hands on the bow.

The hunter was able to activate his Shadow Step just in time as the grenade exploded, blinding the imitator with the suppression grenade.

Said monster stumbled back as a purple haze covered its head, allowing Lance to take aim with Le Monarque's Pestilence Arrow and fire.

The arrow hit the imitator directly, creating a cloud poison and finally dealing damage. Not only that, but the poison seemed to react to the monster's high voltage and discharged in an explosion that dealt more damage.

Overall though, it didn't do much against the higher level monster. Only about 5% of its gold rimmed health bar was gone. It didn't even stumble for very long.

His health suffered through, going from a beginning 100% health to 65% health. A staggering 35% drop.

Just from blocking.

The imitator wasn't happy, easily seen as it charged with a nonexistent roar.

The hunter gritted his teeth as he deflected the staff with his bow, using the ranged weapon like a sort of bat. If he couldn't get enough time to use his bow to deal damage, then he would have to use the little melee he could use with a bow.

It wasn't going well though, each hit made with melee, whether it be blocking the staff or hitting its body, sending electricity through it and dealing damage to the hunter.

His health was dropping, fast.

He needed something to get him out of this.

Something new.

Maybe even something… magical.

… Probably a bad time to test something, but it's not like Lance had a choice.

"In the name of the Traveler," The hunter began as he deflected another stab made by the imitator, "With my authority as a Guardian, I decipher the laws of nature."

'Wait,' Shade stated in surprise, 'You're doing that now?!'

He was pushed back by the monster, but the imitator was pushed back as well, only to charge again, "Let my light manifest brighter than the glow of the sun and blind this unholy creature until its death."

The hunter pushed against the imitator's staff with all of his strength, pushing the creature back a foot and allowing Lance to extend his hand, "Heaven's Light!"

The effect was immediate.

A flash of light appeared in front of the Guardian's hand, one so bright that the hunter would be blinking the spots out of his eyes for the next 10 minutes.

It was worse for the imitator though.

The monster dropped to the ground, its staff slipping out of its hand, forgotten. It roared in pain, holding its gauntleted hands over its non-existent eyes.

The hunter wasn't going to accept just that though.

As soon as Lance's eyes cleared up enough, he aimed his bow and uttered two words, activating a skill he had yet to use, "Incurable Shot."

The arrow of Le Monarque changed, turning a darker shade of grey and black while the canister of poison glowed brighter. A purple mist that smelled of death emitted from the canister and flowed to the ground, pooling around the hunter's feet.

The hunter carefully lined up his shot, still blinking the spots out of his eyes, before letting go of the bowstring.

The imitator didn't have a chance to dodge or block the arrow as it was still wreathing in the pain of blindness. The pain increased tenfold when the hyper deadly poison was injected.

The creature screamed loud enough to wake the dead as it took in the pain. The armor he touched the arrow eroded and broke apart. Even the lightning that made the creature's body turned a deadly shade of purple as it was infected.

All of it was reflected in the monster's gold rimmed health as it dropped.

And oh, did it drop.

It was easily 10% a second, showing just how deadly the poison was. It didn't take long for the imitator to disappear and the room to become silent.

The hunter stood, ready for something else to happen, before he spared a glance at his own health.

It was at 5%, though it was quickly healing now that the battle was over.

"That was too close." Lance stated in a sigh, "I don't exactly want to test if I can still be revived here just yet."

'You and me both.' Shade stated.

The hunter took a look around the room, surveying the damage. Pretty much everything in the small room was destroyed, all except the shrine in the center of the room. There was even a new hole in the wall.

Nothing about any of that was really interesting though. What was interesting, however, were two items where the imitator used to be.

First, there was a staff. It was in the same shape as the one the monster wielded, the standard long pole with points at either end. It lost its electric covering though. The only evidence that the covering used to be there was the black burn marks scattered across it.

The other thing was an orb of lightning. It was smaller than the ones in the first room though, only big enough to fit into the hunter's hand.

He blinked the last spots out of his eyes as he picked the orb up first. A name for the item popped up as he did so.

[Fulgur's Keystone - Dungeon Item]

… Interesting.

He didn't know what to do with it, so he placed it in a pouch on his belt before turning to the staff.

He wasn't particularly interested in such an item, especially one that looked as damaged as this one, but he picked it up to examine it.

[Thunder Burnt Staff {Quest Item} - Legendary - Equipment Bonus: +20 Attack, -25% Mana Cost For Lightning Based Magic, +20 Lightning Resistance]

'Our first Quest Item.' Shade stated the obvious, 'Not what I imagined.'

The hunter shrugged, "It'll be a good upgrade for Rifana at least."

The staff disappeared into the ghost's inventory with a flash of light as Lance stood, only then realizing how stiff he still felt. Not in the near death experience way either.

He already searched the room though, and the various trackers he had activated weren't going off in the slightest. There was no way something was still watching him.

But his gut told him otherwise.

'Lance?' Shade stated, seeing the Guardian's behavior, 'Is there something wrong?'

"... Yeah." Lance stated, "I think I became too reliant on your sensors since we've been this world."

'What… do you mean?' The ghost asked weirely.

Lance had turned to an unassuming part of the room. It was just a wall, bare and plain. No motion detected, no light refracting, nothing.

And yet…

With a quick flick, an arrow of light was fired from his bow at the empty space.

Only to find that it wasn't quite empty.

The arrow had pierced the black hood of a woman's cloak, now visible for the world to see. She wore a one piece suit that clung to her body like a Guardian's under suit. It started at her neck and ended halfway down her thighs like shorts. A pair of stockings made their way up her legs, stopping just above her knees. She wore light boots that worked well to make her steps silent. The cloak she wore covered most of her mousy brown hair while a white masquerade mask hid her eyes from view.

Despite being pinned to the wall by an arrow, she was smirking.

"Who are you?" Lance demanded immediately.

"Someone who's mistress has a great interest in the well being of the heroes." The woman said ominously.

The hunter scoffed, "One of many I assume. Now, I'll ask again, who are you? What do you want?"

She put a hand to her chest, "I'm just an envoy of my lady. As for what I want? That's simple. I want to help the heroes, even if all I can offer is information."

"If it's about the heroes being seen as weapons for people's personal gain, then don't bother." Lance stated, "I've been avoiding nobles for a reason."

The woman laughed softly, "I figured as much, but that wasn't what I wanted to provide." She leaned onto the wall, ignoring the arrow pinning her, "A little piece of interesting trivia, if you will. While his majesty has been making questionable decisions lately, he's still the king of Melromarc. He won't stand for those who profit from the fear and devastation brought by the waves. He has turned a blind eye to it in the past, but he wouldn't risk angering my mistress anymore then he already has."

Lance raised an unseen eyebrow, "And how is that helpful?"

The woman smirked, "You will find out in time, Sir Hero."

"I'm sure I will." The hunter stated before turning to leave the way he entered.

"Aren't you going to finish this dungeon, Sir Hero?" The woman asked in what could be described as confusion.

The hunter scoffed, "If you didn't see, I almost died to that monster. I'm not risking my life to finish this if I don't have to, especially with the limitations on the gear I can use. In fact, the only people who would be able to effectively fight with these kinds of weapon limitations would be Fireteam Wild."

The woman smirked again, "Then let me offer you another piece of advice. If a dungeon is not completed, then the monsters inside of it will wander out in search for the one that started to clear it."

That stopped the hunter in his tracks, "You mean, the monsters in here will be allowed to escape onto the countryside."

"That's exactly what I mean," The woman spoke, "And with the fact that I can't even see their level with my inspection magic, a lot of people might die to them."

"... How do I know you're telling the truth?" Lance asked her.

The woman only chuckled, "You don't."

The hunter turned to face her, only to find her gone with the arrow removed from the wall.

The room was silent once again.

'... She might've been lying.' Shade spoke up.

"And she could have been telling the truth." Lance responded before sighing, "Let's find a way forward."

He searched the room again, only to come up with no results. It was just an empty room with a shrine in the middle.

In fact, how did the shrine even stay standing? With its position, it should have been destroyed first.

The train of thought led the hunter to step back up to it and examine it closer. The top of it was flat, all except the very middle where a half sphere dip could be seen.

That clicked something in the hunter's mind, making him take the keystone dropped from the boss back out of his belt. He hesitantly placed it onto the pedestal.

Immediately, the shrine glowed and turned into ash as the wall in the back of the room slid into the floor.

'Think that's the way forward?' Shade asked rhetorically.

**(End)**

**Chapter 12 - The Tower Of Sparks Part 2 - May 25**


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer - I do not own the Destiny franchise or The Rising of the Shield Hero

**Chapter 12 - The Tower Of Sparks: Part 2**

**(Rifana)**

Her eyes slowly opened back up to the light of day. Her head still ached, but not nearly as much as before. It still made her groan though, grabbing the attention of the two men nearby.

"You're awake!" Hiro exclaimed upon hearing her, getting up from his position nearby and going over to her.

"You had us worried there for a second." Kiroki followed.

"What happened?" Rifana asked while sitting up from her laided position. Her memory was a little fuzzy from the headache.

"The Level Overdose put too much stress onto you." Kiroki answered immediately, "Though I've never heard of someone passing out to a Level Overdose."

"It must have been a lot of levels then." Hiro deduced, before turning to Rifana, "Um, what level are you now anyway?" He received a smack to the back of the head, "Ow!"

"That's rude to ask of someone." Kiroki stated.

"No," Rifana said, "It's fine." She looked over to her level and became a little surprised herself, "I'm… Level 100 now."

The two of them looked at her surprised, "What?" Hiro asked in a little disbelief.

"Just what is he killing in there to get that much XP?" Kiroki said to himself as he turned to the tower in the distance.

"Maybe he killed a boss?" Hiro suggested.

Only for Kiroki to shake his head, "If it was just one burst of levels, then sure, but you gained a lot more than that. Right?" He asked Rifana.

"Yeah," The wesal girl confirmed, "About 5 - 4 levels at a time if I remember."

Hiro faced the tower this time, "The hero must be killing some high level monsters then."

"How long was I out?" Rifana asked, redirecting the attention to her.

Hiro put his hand on his chin in thought, "About an hour I think."

This got her to worry and look at the tower, "And Lance-sama is still in there?"

"Yes." Kiroki stated simply, "We saw one of the walls around the middle of the tower collapse about 40 mins ago. The flash of that followed was so bright that I'm still blinking spots out of my eyes."

Rifana nodded, "I just hope he comes back so-" She was interrupted by an explosion.

Well, it was more of a shockwave then an explosion. It was still loud, not as loud as a Tranquility, but loud nonetheless.

It came from the top of the tower and it happened so quick that Rifana would have missed it if she wasn't looking at it. The quick black had sent an equally quick shockwave of electricity outwards, taking all of the electricity in the tower with it.

"What the hell!" Kiroki exclaimed, seeing it happen as well.

The only thing that answered him was the tower itself, but it wasn't in the best of ways.

The foundation was the first to crack as the tower started to crumble with the loss of the electricity.

Rifana was quick to react, her headache gone, "Lance-sama!" She shouted as she stood up and started a sprint to the once electrified tower, her weapons left behind.

"Miss Rifana!" Hiro called out to her, but she didn't turn.

**(L****ance - Earlier)**

As it turned out, the newly opened wall was the way forward.

It led into a corridor lit by a few torches that, while looking old, burned brighter than ever. The corridor looked to be made out of stone, bits and pieces blackened by the electricity that ran through them.

Other than the torches, the corridor looked completely empty. The hunter was more cautious now though, keeping his senses on high alert.

Higher than before at least.

It proved to be useful, as he managed to disable two traps before he got to the end of the corridor.

At the end of the corridor there was a wooden double door, the majority of the wood blackened. With no lock, it opened easily, allowing the hunter to enter a new stairwell.

This stairwell was perfectly preserved, unlike the last one they had been in. It was considerably smaller though, only going up one floor.

His radar was flashing halfway up the stairs, alerting him to the enemies he was bound to encounter.

His bow was already drawn by the time he reached the top. Strangely enough, at the top of the stairs there was a trapdoor on the ceiling.

If he was above the trapdoor, it would have been great. He would have the advantage of being above the entrance, making the chance of getting ambushed small.

Being under it however…

"That's going to make this a little harder," Lance mumbled, "But not impossible."

He placed his bow on the ground, not too far away, before reaching into a pouch on the back of his belt. From it, the hunter pulled out what looked like a roll of tape, except it was a little bit thicker.

In actuality, it was not a roll of tape, but instead a directional explosive.

It still stuck like tape though, shown as Lance carefully tore off a portion and laid it on one edge of the trapdoor. Once there was a strip of the material on every side of the trapdoor, the hunter placed the rest of the material back into the pouch it came from and grabbed his bow.

Lance then placed a finger on the now glowing button that was on the pouch as he crouched down.

'3… 2… 1…' The hunter counted down mentaly, pressing the button on one.

The explosives… well, exploded, shooting the door up while doing no damage to everything below it.

[Sneak Attack Successful - 4x Damage On Five Targets]

Sparring the popup only a slight glace, Lance launched himself into the room with his double jump to get him high.

In total, there were about 30 of the Lightning Cats in the large room, though five of them were just smoking corpses. That left 25 for the hunter to kill.

A Grapple Arrow was the first to be fired out of Lance's weapon, latching onto one of the felines. The hunter pulled on the arrow's wire, throwing the feline behind him with a yelp and pulling Lance forward, away from the trapdoor.

While still in the air, the hunter let go of the wire and changed to his Pestilence Arrows, raining two onto the ground beneath him before he landed. The Lightning Cats within range fell to the heavy poison before he landed, giving him room aim once more.

The aimed arrow pierced the head of another beast, tripping the one behind it as it was running. That one fell to an arrow to the head as well.

Lance threw a Voidwall grenade to his side, stopping a few of the charging beasts and killing more of them. The ones stopped by the flames took an arrow to the head.

Lance liked fighting these monsters more than the imitator. They were still melee fighters, but they were more like thralls than an Arcstrider.

Because of that, they were all dead in under two minutes.

With nothing distracting him, the hunter finally got a good look at his new surroundings. The room was large, but completely empty. Strangely empty for a room of its size. There was a set of double doors on one side of the room though.

With nothing else to go on, Lance went through the doors and found himself in another stairwell leading up. It went up one floor, to another set of double doors.

The room the doors led to looked almost exactly like the last large room, the only difference was the floor. It had holes in a few places that led to the last floor. You could barely tell though because of the electricity that ran through the hole, almost covering the hole completely.

That didn't concern the hunter though, the 20 or so Lightning Cats catching his attention.

They were taken care of quickly, each dieing to a well placed shot or two. Overall, they were not a challenge with all of the room Lance had to work with.

On the opposite side of the room, the hunter came to another set of doors that let him continue up on another staircase.

The next floor was, again, the same with the exception of the floor. Chunks of the floor were open to the room below, electricity running through the hole.

Slaying another wave of Lightning Cats, Lance continued to the next floor.

The next floor continued the trend. The floor was beginning to become more hole than stone and the holes in the wall were also seen.

That didn't stop the hunter as he slayed the one monster on that floor and continued to the next staircase. A few steps were missing this time, but a quick double jump took care of that.

The next floor could barely be called a floor. The only stone floor there was the bridge-like floor from the entry door to the exit, the only exception being two small ledges on either side of the room allowing a skeleton archer to stand. The walls were also degraded, giant holes littered in them.

The skeletons were quickly shut down before Lance continued upwards, having to use his double jump again as more of the stairs were gone.

The next floor was interesting. No monsters this time, but the only floor in the room was a platform in the middle of the room and a tiny ledge in front of the exit door. The only thing keeping it from falling to the floor below seemed to be the electricity taking up the rest of the floor.

Though, with his double jump, it was barely a problem.

The next staircase was also interesting. There were only two steps on its spiral after all.

It didn't stop him from climbing with his double jump though, getting him to the next floor that was… interesting.

There was no floor.

Where the floor was supposed to be, there was only a layer of electricity that sparked life. The ledge on the other side of the room was too far away to jump to.

Looking up, Lance could see that the ceiling was higher than the other floors. It wasn't made of electricity either, just solid rock. The walls were completely gone, revealing the metal support beams that held the ceiling in place.

The hunter thought of a solution quickly though. Shooting two grapple arrows at the ceiling, keeping hold of the one shot closer, he simply swung from wire to wire to cross the room.

Opening the door, he scaled the last stairwell with climbing arrows due to the missing stairs.

This stairwell was different though.

There was no door at the top. Instead of a door, the stairwell was open to another room. You couldn't really call it a room though.

It was the top of the tower, open to the sky. Collapsed pillars and old walls littered the sides of the floor, like they were pushed to the side by something. Only one pillar remained standing at the back of the area.

Strangely, there was also a chest at the back of the area. It matched the aesthetic of the rest of the dungeon, burnt wood with a stone base, while also being gilded with silver. There was just one thing preventing him from opening it.

That was the electricity covering it.

It also wasn't his biggest problem right now.

"I have to say," A vaguely female but static filled voice sounded from behind the hunter, "I didn't expect anyone to get up here."

Lance snapped to the voice, turning a full 180 with his bow drawn and pointed at the speaker.

It was humanoid in shape, though it was wearing a set of armor so the hunter couldn't tell. The armor was grey in color, though parts of it were rusted, and it covered every part of its body. Small circle caps were connected to what looked like wires were on the chest in a few places. It even looked like there were some on its back if the extra wires were any indication.

They were sitting down, leaning against a pile of rubble that was bigger than the rest. There didn't seem to be any weapons around them, but Lance didn't let himself ease up.

"... What do you mean by that?" Was all the hunter responded with, eliciting no special reaction for the figure. They did speak though.

"What I mean is that the people of this planet aren't exactly the strongest bunch." They stated bluntly in their staticy tone.

Lance raised an unseen eyebrow as Shade repeated, 'This planet?'

"You say that like you've actually seen something stronger." The hunter stated causing the figure to scoff, but still not move.

"Of course I have," They said matter of factly, before continuing confidently, "My people could turn this world into cosmic ash in a second."

"Your not from this planet?" Lance stated the obvious, causing them to scoff again.

"I don't come from any planet," They stated, "And if I had any choice, I wouldn't be on this one either."

"Why are you here then?" The hunter continued.

The figure growled, "As I said, I wasn't exactly given a choice. One second I'm being thrown out of that bastard emperor's ship, only to be swallowed up by a flash of light and brought here the next."

'Emperor's ship?' Shade stated in slight disbelief, 'They don't mean Calus… do they?'

'I don't think anything else could fit the criteria.' Lance responded.

"I wouldn't have even been in that damn thing if it wasn't for that traitor turning her back on us and becoming his Shadow." They mumbled angrily to themself, the hunter overhearing.

'Well,' Shade followed up, 'There's no denying that.'

'Wait,' The hunter said, 'You still have information on the Shadows, don't you? Do any of them happen to match this guy?'

The Shadows. Calus's elite warriors, assassins, and minds. They were a group made up of multiple races, one of them even being the Eliksni.

If the records Lance and Shade had found were right, that is.

You could never tell with Calus.

'A lot of them were humanoid, like the Ace-Defiant.' Shade responded, 'With my scan though…'

The pause made the hunter curious, 'What did your scan pick up?'

'Well, I couldn't get the best scan from this far away,' The ghost started, 'But I'm sure that they're not wearing armor. It's just a containment suit. A bad one, sure, but one nonetheless.'

Lance looked at the suit a little bit closer, but didn't notice anything special, 'Ok, I'll bite. What's it containing and why is it important?'

'Arc energy.' Shade said simply, 'Pure Arc energy. I think they're Arkborn.'

"Look, whoever you are," The Arkborn said, grabbing the hunter's attention again, "I personally want to leave this place so I can make a way off of this miserable rock. But, I can't leave this tower unless you leave, so that's what I'm asking of you. Leave."

Lance was nearly taken aback by the bluntness of the statement. What kind of person did they take this hunter as?

"I can't just do that." Lance stated, "The rest of the monsters here would escape as well, and I can't just allow that."

The hunter could imagine that the Arkborn rolled its eyes, "And what of it? Those mindless beasts aren't my problem. Look, if you want what's in that container, then here."

The Arkborn made its first movement, just a small, yet jerky, wave of the hand. With the motion, the lightning covering the chest disappeared.

Lance didn't care though. He needed to shut down this dungeon, not collect treasure.

"I'm only interested in shutting this place down," Lance stated to the Arkborn, "If you can do that, then I'll leave."

"If by shutdown you mean destroy, then I can't help you." They responded, "I would have to die, and I'm not too interested in doing that."

The hunter raised an eyebrow, "You're the thing keeping this dungeon active?"

"Not by choice," They said, "But I can't exactly do anything while I'm trapped in this damn thing. I can hardly even move."

… Lance knew he was going to feel bad about it later, but… 'Shade, what do I need to know about killing an Arkborn?'

'Ah, well…' Shade responded, unsure, 'I only know what I've gathered from Calus's database, and it doesn't state a way to kill one. The only thing coming close to an Arkborn dying is the Fulminator, but even then it was only because the Fulminator's essence was spread so thin that it technically didn't exist anymore.'

The hunter eyed the muttering Arkborn, 'And how do I do that?'

The ghost thought for a second, '... The inhibitor caps, taking them off will release the energy. There's only a slight possibility that you'll die from the backlash.'

'... Is that the only way?' Lance asked his ghost, only for Shade not to answer.

The hunter sighed before he started to walk to the sitting Arkborn, catching its attention.

"Hey," It started, "What are you doing?"

Lance didn't respond as he stopped in front of the Arkborn and crouched down, putting his bow on his back and reaching for one of the circular inhibitor caps on the Arkborn's containment suit.

"H-hey! Stop that!" They demanded in panic, trying to move the broken suit, "Get away from me!"

"I'm sorry," The hunter stated as he grabbed an inhibitor cap, "But this dungeon needs to be destroyed at all costs, even if it means killing you."

With a solid yank, the inhibitor cap snapped off of the weak suit.

The suit, in response, promptly sent out an explosive force of electricity that sent Lance flying back into the last remaining pillar and draining 25% of his health.

It seemed to be worse for the Arkborn though.

"Aaaaaahhhhhhh!" They screamed as part of their very electrical lifeforce was expelled into the area, lashing in various directions.

'That didn't kill them, did it?' Lance thought to Shade as he stood up and readied his bow for a fight.

'Nope, doesn't seem like it.' The ghost responded.

"You bastard!" The Arkborn screamed from its position, "I'll kill you for that."

At those words the lashing electricity seemed to gain sentience, wrapping around the containment suit of the Arkborn. With the help of the electricity, the suit became tighter around the joints, slowly allowing the suit to stand up.

The familiar look of a nameplate and health bar appeared above the head of the now standing Arkborn. Only, this time it was purple.

{The Arkborn, Lord Of Lightning - LV 250}

Lance noticed that its health bar was already a fourth of the way down and ever so slowly draining, but that's all he noticed before before the rain of electricity started.

Shadowstepping out of the way, the hunter dodged a strike that obliterated the pile of rubble he used to be standing at. Coming out of the roll, Lance wasted no time in launching an arrow at the Arc based enemy.

Only to have the arrow of light get turned into ash by the electric field surrounding the suit.

[Alert!]

[Arcing Protection Activated!]

[Arcing Protection - All Ranged Attacks Made Against The Arkborn Will Be Obliterated In A Deadly Blast Of Arc Energy]

"Oh, well now that's just bullshit!" That hunter exclaimed, dodging another attack, "How am I supposed to fight then?!"

A streak of lightning was shot at him again, making the hunter dodge again. The blast obliterated another pile of rubble, turning it to ash. All except for one thing.

That thing being a piece of metal that was planted into the floor, supposedly part of a support pillar used in the lower level's wall. What was interesting about it was the fact that it absorbed the lightning that hit it, effectively absorbing the attack.

Well, Shade noticed that. Lance was too busy avoiding the relentless assault of lightning.

With that observation though, the ghost came up with a plan.

'Lance,' Shade started, 'I have an idea!'

A shot of lightning grazed by Lance, doing around 5% damage, "Well lay it on me!"

'The metal supports pillars by the edges,' The ghost continued, 'They can absorb the electricity. Try using your grapple arrow's wire to make a elterical path to drain the power from the suit.'

The hunter rolled out of the way of another blast before questioning his ghost, "You do realize that I can't exactly shoot them, right?"

'It's all I got.' Was all Shade said in response, causing Lance to sigh and use his bow to summon a grapple arrow to his hand.

This one was just a little different though. Instead of having the wire connected to an arrow and the bow, the wire was connecting two arrows.

Wrapping the spool of wire loosely around his arm after he placed the bow back onto his back and while running, the hunter sprinted for the closest revealed support pillar next to the Arkborn.

Not stopping when he got to it, the hunter stabbed the metal with one of the arrows and started to let the wire roll out.

Next was the risky part.

The hunter, in an act of reckless abandonment, ran straight at the Arkborn. If the lack of thrown lightning was any indication, they were not expecting such a move.

Lance took that opening and used it.

"What the hell are yo-" The Arkborn started before the hunter entered its guard.

In the guard of the Arkborn, the hunter stabbed the arrow as hard as he could into the containment suit. The arrow planted itself into the suit nicely, allowing Lance to speed away himself, but not without taking contact damage of a whopping 20% health.

It seemed to work though, if the sudden decrease in electricity was any indication.

The Arkborn collapsed onto its knees, the electricity keeping it up suddenly disappearing. That didn't stop its hand from moving though, no matter how slowly.

Taking the opportunity given, the hunter put himself next to the Arkborn again. Only this time, he didn't go for an inhibitor cap. Not after what happened the first time.

As the Arkborn slowly reached for the arrow that was sucking away its power, the hunter reached behind him and into a recently used pouch. He pulled out the tape-like directional explosive and tore a piece off, sticking it onto the back of the containment suit.

The hunter managed to get three strips of explosive onto the suit before he backpedalled away, evading the newly formed lighting barrier as it formed. The arrow in the Arkborn's hand turned into ash before the Arc themed creature turned around to face Lance.

They were both at 50% health, the Arkborn getting that low only because of the draining from the arrow trick. That was about to change though.

Lance didn't even have to press the activation switch.

The electricity on the Arkborn's suit hit the explosive and, with its volatile nature, it detonated.

Like a heated blade through tinfoil, the suit was split in half, the Arkborn not even being able to make a sound as it happened so quickly.

That did the trick though, all of the energy escaping from the suit all at once with a slightly explosive force. Said force sent Lance's health down another 25% and sent him flying back slightly.

Though just like the records of the Fulminator said, with the suit gone/opened, all of the Arkborn's energy escaped and spread it so thin that it didn't exist.

Strangely enough, all that was left was a small orb where the Arkborn used to be. The hunter quickly got up and, curious, stepped towards it with his bow ready.

A loud crack emitted from the floor beneath the hunter, telling him he didn't have the luxury of going slow.

'The floor's collapsing!' Shade stated the obvious as Lance broke into a sprint towards the edge of the tower, picking up the orb as he passed it.

[The Arkborn's Core {Quest Item} - Exotic Crafting Material - The Last Remaining Energy Of The Lord Of Lightning And Storms]

He barely paid attention to the pop up, avoiding a hole that opened under his feet, "I saw that! Do you know why?"

Lance passed the chest as it fell into the floor, 'I can't tell.' Shade responded, 'It just lost its integr-' The ghost cut himself off as the hunter stepped onto the edge of the tower, 'Wait, what are you doing?!'

"Getting out of here." Was all Lance stated before he jumped off of the tower.

**(Rifana)**

With her incredibly high Dexterity, it took next to no time for Rifana to make it close enough to the tower to see what was happening. She couldn't safely get next to it though.

The electricity from before must have been keeping it together, because now that it was gone the tower couldn't keep itself together.

That's not what she focused on though.

No, she had her eyes on the falling figure of the Bow Hero.

"Lance-sama!" She shouted, catching his attention.

In response, Lance merely tilted his head as he fell with his arms and legs spread out.

'What is he doing!' Rifana nearly screamed in her head, 'He'll die from that fall!'

Not being able to do anything to slow his fall or help in any way, she merely watched as he fell.

Though as she watched, it became apparent that he didn't need help.

Debris fell around the hunter as he descended the tower. To throw himself away from the tower, he kicked off of a bigger piece of debri as he fell past it.

It didn't take him long to get to the ground, and when he was about 10ft above the ground, he kicked off of the air and landed softly next to Rifana.

After landing, the Bow Hero simply turned to the ruined tower as it finished collapsing, "That was close."

… Really? That was all he had to say about it?

"W-what happened in there?" Rifana asked the hunter a little hesitantly.

Lance turned to her before speaking, "Honestly, too much." He stated simply, "Did anything happen when I was gone?"

For a second Rifana was surprised at his calmness, but she ended up just sighing, "No, nothing happened."

"Sir Hero!" Hiro exclaimed as he came up behind Rifana, "You're back!"

"Yeah, sorry I took so long." The hero said, "Are we ready to continue?"  
Rifana and Hiro gave him surprised looks.

"So soon?" Rifana asked in surprise, "You just got out there, don't you want to rest?"

Lance shook his head, "I've taken too much time as it is. If we want to make it to the village on time, then we need to keep going."

"I agree." Kiroki stated as he joined the group, "We have no time to waste on needless rest. I have already readied the cart and am ready to go."

Lance nodded and started to head back to camp with Kiroki following him.

Hiro and Rifana just looked at them walking away with a little disbelief. Only for a second though, before the both sighed and followed them.

**(A Little Bit Later - ?)**

The carriage disappeared in the distance, away from the ruins of the Arcane Tesla.

The area was quiet when he stepped out of his hiding place, losing the need to hide from the Bow Hero.

He stood tall while overlooking the area that the Bow Hero and his group left behind, observing the ruins.

'He's stronger than we thought.' The man thought to himself as he made his way down to the ruins of the tower, 'Not even the church's strongest warriors were able to defeat that dungeon.'

As he stepped closer, he thought about his mission from the church.

He was ordered to follow the Bow Hero, keep an eye on him for the church. As a Shadow, he did his job well, but he never knew with the Bow Hero. Even with all of the illusion magic he could muster, it never felt like enough to get close to the Bow Hero.

So he stayed back, watching from the background.

He stepped onto the rocks of the ruins, examining the wreckage for anything that might be left. Though, after a few minutes, the Shadow decided to continue on his mission and follow after the hero.

And that's when he spotted it. A glint of silver in the middle of the ruins.

The Shadow investigated, digging up part of the rubble to find the source was a chest. A chest made out of wood, stone, and silver.

The Shadow knew better than to claim this. It was the Bow Hero's reward, not his.

Something drew him to it though, something there compelled him to open that chest.

But when he touched what was inside, his mind became clouded to his beliefs.

When he touched the thorny bow, he lost his faith.

When the darkness clouded his mind, he smiled.

**(End)**

**Chapter 13 - The Northern Territories - June 8**


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer - I do not own the Destiny franchise or The Rising of the Shield Hero

Cabal: You can't possibly stop our final assault upon your puny planet.

Rasputin: Haha, Almighty go brrrrrrrrr

Seriously though, the explosion was awesome. I just wish it didn't take so long to get there.

As a little disclaimer beforehand, I wasn't able to put as much time as I would have liked into this chapter due to things happening around me, so this is not my best work.

Enjoy either way.

**Chapter 13 - The Northern Territories**

The village was smaller than he expected.

That was Lance's first impression at least, and it was a rather nice one considering the toll he had to pay to get in.

Seriously though, 30 silver just to get into the area? That was robbery considering the usual toll to enter areas and towns was supposed to be between 5 coppers and 1 silver.

In the end though, the hunter couldn't be bothered with arguing with the guard and paid the toll, adding in a little extra to keep the guard quiet.

He didn't want the lord to know he was here so soon after all.

"Has the toll always been that high in this area?" Lance asked Kiroki as they walked further through the village to the town hall while Hiro, with Rifana's help, moved the crates of supplies from the cart.

The old man shook his head, "It rose when the first Wave hit. Lord Ivyred tried to stop the raise, but he was overruled by the lord of the area."

"Hmm." The hunter hummed, "And I assume Lord Ivyred is the lord of this village?"

Kiroki nodded with a smile this time, "You are correct. He's been the best thing to happen to this village since its founding. His management has also been the only thing keeping the village from going bankrupt." The old man frownd, "Though, it has gotten hard to do as of late."

"Which is why you posted the bounty." Lance assumed.

Kiroki nodded again, "It was a last ditch effort from me and Hiro. We gathered up all of the money we could spare and used it as a reward for the bounty."

Lance hummed in response again, 'They really are desperate then, huh?'

'Sounds like it.' Shade responded, 'We're going to need a lot more information if we're going to solve this problem.'

'Information that Lord Ivyred can hopefully provide.' The hunter finished.

With that, they arrived at what Lance assumed was the town hall. The building was bigger than the ones surrounding it, but only by a little bit. Other than that, the only difference from the common wooden aesthetic was the small, hanging sign out front. All the sign said was 'Town Hall'.

"Here we are," Kiroki stated as he opened the door and walked in, "Lord Ivyred should be in here."

The hunter followed him in, closing the door behind him as he took in the interior of the building. It looked professional and well kept, that was for sure. The building was two layers total, a staircase at the side of the room leading up to the next floor. He couldn't see much of the second floor, but on the first there were several people moving around from desk to desk managing paperwork. Only about four people in total though.

Right next to the entrance was a waiting room like area. It only consisted of a few chairs and a front counter, one that was currently unattended.

"Follow me." Kiroki stated as he moved forward past the front desk and towards a nearby door.

Opening it, Lance could see that there was an office on the other side. It was simple enough, a desk with a chair in front of it for a visitor if needed. On the desk though, there was… a lot of paperwork.

Behind this desk was a man. He had light green hair that closely matched his green eyes. He wore a simple brown tunic under a lighter brown vest. His pants were equally as simple and brown as well.

He was also asleep.

Kiroki just sighed, "He overworked himself again." The old man said as he walked up to who Lance assumed was Lord Ivyred.

When it was clear that the older man was going to wake up the lord, the hunter stopped him, "Let him get his rest, it seems like he needs it."

Kiroki nodded, stepping away, "Your right I suppose. He does work harder than the rest of us. Not just taking care of the village, but also tending his farm to keep the food supply up."

Lance looked at the old man, "He works a farm around here as well?"

Kiroki nodded with a smile, "One of the bigger ones, at the eastern end of the village. He's out there everyday."

The hunter turned back to the sleeping lord, nodding as his respect for the man went up a little bit. If he had the mentality to run a farm along with the village, then he wasn't as bad as most nobles tend to be.

Lance's eyes drifted to the papers covering the desk. At a glance, they seemed to be documentation on expenses made out to the lord. They were expensive, and some of them were even from the Adventurer's Guild back in Castle Town.

He picked one of the said bills up and took a closer look at it. According to the document, a bunch of adventurers were hired to chase off some bandits.

"Why were adventures hired to chase off bandits?" The hunter asked Kiroki, showing him the document.

The old man made a sour face at it, "We didn't hire any adventures before you. From what I can tell, this was the work of the neighboring lord."

Lance raised his eyebrow at the accusation, "You mean the same one rasing the taxes?" Kiroki nodded, "Why do you think that? I mean, it does seem to be a little bit of a stretch."

The old man put the document back onto the table before speaking, "Normally, I wouldn't jump to such conclusions, but around the same time the bandits started showing up to sabotage our crops and steal our property, the neighboring lord offered his help in exchange for Lord Ivyred's daughter."

Lance nodded at his words, "And I assume the bandit attacks got worse when he refused."

Kiroki only nodded at his words.

'The connection makes sense then.' The hunter thought, 'This is bigger than I realized.'

'No kidding.' Shade responded, 'Not only is the lord of the area raising the taxes through the roof, but, if Kiroki's right, they're also attacking innocents to get what they want.'

'Even then, it's still not working.' Lance ended, looking at the paperwork again before turning to Kiroki.

"When did this all start?" Lance asked the old man.

Kiroki placed his hand on his chin in thought, "I think it started happening when the first Wave hit the country."

"So when fear rose in the nation." The hunter summarized under his breath. He turned to the old man once more, his mind set on a plan, "Just where is the neighboring village?"

**(The Neighboring Village - Late That Night)**

The village of Ashwood was… dreary.

That was Lance's first impression at least.

The bleak village was huge, or at least bigger than Greenpine village, as far as size went. For such a big place, you would expect to see some life.

That wasn't the case here though.

Sure, the hunter saw people walking the streets as he explored from the rooftops in secret, but they all seemed… dead. Not in a literal sense, but it was a good description.

Not to mention the parts of town that were completely empty, devoid of all life except for the occasional homeless person passed out on the side of the street.

Yet, the mansion overlooking the town was the complete opposite with bright flowers decorating the property. Said property was behind stone walls that stood at least 15ft tall. Though, other than the occasional glance, Lance didn't pay that much attention to the property in favor of finding a good target. Although, he did find out that the lord was having a party the next day.

Not sure why, but that might be useful later on.

It only took an hour of exploration to find his target.

The target was a dubious looking merchant who happened to be alone.

It didn't take very much convincing in the form of silver to get the merchant's tongue to loosen, spilling a well of information.

The lord of Ashwood was, to put it simply, a greedy scumbag who thought himself to be the kingpin of the entire region. With the power the king had given him when he came into power, it wasn't that hard to accomplish. The man had raised the taxes and tolls in the region just to fill his pockets. Not only that, but he also accepted all kinds of bribes from other nobles and other people of power.

Along with this, the lord had… 'cautioned' any merchant to avoid Greenpine village. The merchant had made it clear that by 'cautioned', the lord ment that he would not be held responsible for any misfortune that could happen.

The last bit of info from the merchant was the fact that the lord had his own personal attack dogs. Though the merchant was pretty sure that they were just bandits.

Now, armed with all of that information, the hunter had a new problem.

What was he going to do about it?

With the lord's status, Lance doubted he could just go to Aultcray and have him take care of it. Maybe the king would do something about it, but it would only be because of the hunter's status as a hero.

The thought of straight up confronting the lord crossed his mind, only to be dismissed quickly. He preferred it when the odds were in his favor, and even with the fact that the noble was corrupt, he doubted that the information would give him leverage over the noble.

It wasn't like he was the only corrupt noble after all.

There was also the option to straight up and kill the noble, but that would yield no results other than total anarchy.

No, the best course of action for now was to return to Greenpine village and speak with Lord Ivyred about what he wanted to do next.

With that, Lance made the journey back to Greenpine, arriving in the early morning.

Something was off though. The air felt different in a way, more stressed and even panicked. The people he passed also seemed to be worried and stressed.

Was there another bandit attack? No, that wouldn't elicit this kind of reaction after all of the other attacks.

Besides, with Rifana here, Lance doubted that bandits would even get past the perimeter of the village. That's why he left her here when he went to Ashwood.

Just what happened?

"Sir Hero! Sir Hero!" The familiar voice of Hiro called out to him, catching his attention, "Come quickly, we need your help!"

"What happened?" Lance questioned quickly.

"It's Lord Ivyred's daughter!" Hiro exclaimed, "She's been kidnapped!"

**(Rifana - The Day Before)**

After arriving at Greenpine village, Rifana had helped Hiro unload the supplies on the cart while Lance-sama and Kiroki went to meet the lord of the village. She was pleasantly surprised to find that, even if they did stare for a second, none of the villagers seemed to care about her demi-human nature.

At least, it didn't feel like it.

With the two of them, it didn't take that long for Rifana and Hiro to empty the cart and move to meet up with Lance-sama and Kiroki. They found her and Hiro first though.

The Bow Hero explained to the weasel demi that he planned to go to the neighboring village of Ashwood to gather information for what to do next.

She was disappointed when Lance-sama told her to stay behind, but quickly agreed after he explained the situation with the bandits. With the chance that they may strike again, it was better for her to stay behind and get used to her new level.

That was another issue Lance-sama and her had noticed. Rifana being Level 100 wasn't the problem per-say, but the sudden jump was. Normally when she leveled, she didn't notice any of the increases as they were too small.

Gaining more than 50 levels in one day though? Well… she didn't mean to snap her magic-iron staff in half, she just gripped it a little too hard.

She was lucky that Lance-sama had found a new staff in the dungeon, otherwise she would have had to wait a while until they found a suitable replacement.

Though, Rifana was sceptical about the staff at first. Why wouldn't she, it looked like it was made out of normal steel and covered in burn marks. Once she took it though, she immediately noticed the difference.

It seemed to resonate with her lightning magic, while also seeming more durable than any other weapon she had held.

Not counting the guns Lance-sama had given her.

Unfortunately for Rifana, Greenpine village was a small town that didn't have anywhere dedicated to practicing magic or regular combat skills, so she wouldn't have any real place to get used to the level increase.

At least, that's what she thought before Hiro showed her a place where Lord Ivyred's daughter supposedly practiced her magic.

It was out of the way, on the edge of the largest farm in the village. There wasn't really anything there other than a few makeshift targets leaned on a few trees that were slightly burned by spell-fire. Rifana wouldn't get any special practice, but that wasn't her goal. She just wanted to get used to her higher stats.

That, and training was never a bad thing.

"Is this good enough for you to practice?" Hiro asked her when they arrived at the location.

Rifana nodded, "Like I said, I don't need much to practice."

"Alright then," He responded, "Just go back to the inn I showed you in town once you're done."

With that, he made his way back to the main village to do… whatever he does during the day while they waited for Lance-sama to get back. Rifana, meanwhile, turned to one of the makeshift targets that were set up.

'Alright,' She thought to herself, 'I'll just start with a simple lightning spell to test my magic damage and go from there.'

She raised her right hand forward, towards the target, and uttered a spell as she had sparked, "Faust Lightning Bolt."

The resounding ZAP was loud, but only loud enough to be heard by people that might be on the property, so nothing was very different there. The damage on the other hand…

The center of the target had been reduced to ash in a fine circle that was black around the edges, but that would have been normal if it was just that. The lightning bolt had also gone through the target completely, piercing a hole into the tree behind it. The hole was also bigger in size.

Rifana inspected it with an uneasy laugh, "Yup, my magic damage has definitely gone up."

"I-I'll say." A voice sounded from behind Rifana, making her turn around quickly. What she found was a girl.

She had green hair that was tied into two braids, one on either side of her head, and her eyes were a lime green. She seemed to be the same size as Rifana. Her clothing consisted of a green colored sleeveless dress that was on top of a cream colored long sleeved shirt. Covering her legs were a simple pair of white leggings.

The girl jumped slightly at the speed Rifana turned, quickly apologizing, "A-ah, s-sorry!"

The wesal girl slightly relaxed her ready stance, not seeing the girl as much of a threat, "It's fine, you just startled me. Though, who are you?" She asked.

The green haired girl straightened up, "I-I'm Rishia Ivyred."

"Oh," Rifana said in surprise, "You must be Lord Ivyred's daughter then." Realizing this, she rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly, "Sorry I destroyed your target."

"I-it's fine!" Rishia quickly stated, "It's just, w-who are you?"

Rifana smiled and extended her hand out to the other girl, "I'm Rifana, it's nice to meet you." Rishia shook her hand hesitantly before Rifana continued, "I can leave if you want me to."

The green haired girl shook her head, "T-that won't be necessary. I saw Hiro lead you over here and I just wanted to know what you were doing."

Rifana nodded in understanding, "I'm just testing out what's changed with my stat increase. It shouldn't take very long."

Rishia looked over to the burnt target, "They must have increased a lot if a simple L-Lightning Bolt did that. Is lightning your only affinity?" She then asked with interested eyes as she turned to Rifana.

The wesal girl waved her hand in a so-so motion, "I have a Wind Magic affinity as well, but I haven't been able to use much in that regard. Besides, Lightning magic just comes more naturally. What about you?"

Rishia shifted nervously, "I actually have an affinity for a-all of the elements."

Rifana's eyes widened in surprise, "Really? I didn't know that could happen. Wait," SHe said, realizing something, "Does that mean you can use Holy magic as well?"

The green haired girl laughed nervously, rubbing the back of her neck, "N-no, I'm afraid not. It's a tier two magic and I can only use the tier one variants."

Rifana tilted her head in confusion, "What does that mean?"

"W-well, all elemental magic has two tiers." Rishia stated, "For example, Holy magic is the second tier of light magic. M-most people only have the first tier, but it can sometimes be brought up to the second by class ups. Why do you ask?"

Rifana adapted a slightly embarrassed look, "Oh, it's just, me and Lance-sama are on the search for someone with the Holy magic affinity. I'm not exactly sure why though."

Rishia put on a confused face, "Lance-sama?"

Rifana's face turned slightly red, "A-ah, yeah. He's investigating the neighboring village right now, but you'll probably meet him later."

Rishia looked confused, "The neighboring vill…" She trailed off as a look of realization crossed her face, "O-oh, we didn't put up a bounty at the A-adventurer's Guild. I-if that's why your here, then-"

"Oh no no," Rifana quickly stated, remembering the things Lance-sama told her before he left, "We didn't come here because of the Adventurer's Guild. Hiro and Kiroki asked Lance-sama for help when we were back in Castle Town."

Rishia looked confused again, "W-why would they ask… Lance-sama for help?"

Rifana smirked before answering, "He's the Bow Hero, that's why."

The green haired girl's eyes widened, "T-the Bow Hero?! H-here?"

"Yup, he agreed to help after he heard what was going on." The weasel girl responded.

"A-ah. Well then," Rishia said awkwardly, "Would you like some company then?"

With that, Rifana practiced with her abilities and weapons while Rishia tried to get to know her better, practicing her own spells at some points.

During this time, Rifana learned that the shy girl was actually pretty good at magic, although her combat spells weren't all that powerful. Rishia had learned most of her magic skills when she studied at a school in Faubrey, but she was never able to finish her studies because of her family's money problems that stemmed from her father being an unpopular lord among the nobles.

As it turned out, most of her family's authority had been chipped away because of the lord's many disagreements with a number of royal pronouncements. That's why they were put in charge of the village instead of a larger territory like other nobles.

A few hours of going over skills and practicing with her weapons, Rifana and Rishia bid each other a good night as the weasel girl went back to the inn in town.

It was dark out by the time Rifana found herself in the inn. A room was already ready for her and Lance-sama when she got there, so she placed her things inside while looking around.

The was fairly big, probably one of the bigger ones here. There were two beds, one on either side of the room, and a table with a few chairs underneath the window at the end of the room. She sat down on one of the two beds in the room and noticed how soft it was.

Better than the bedroll she used when traveling at least.

It was then that she noticed how tired she was from the training earlier. She was drained from casting all of the spells she knew while also trying a few that Rishia helped her with.

'Maybe I could rest real quickly before going out and keeping watch.' She thought to herself as she slid her combat boots off and laid back on the bed. Her heavy eyes quickly shut, sending her to sleep.

Only to be woken up by a sharp knock on the room door.

Rifana shot up quickly, wide awake, and was met with the sight of the shining sun. Her face paled as she realized she fell asleep.

The knock came again, making her race to it and open it. It was Hiro, and he looked frantic.

"What's wrong?" Rifana quickly asked, seeing his expression.

"I-it's Lord Ivyred's daughter," He replied, "She's been kidnapped!"

'... Oh no.'

**(Lance - Lord Ivyred's Farmhouse)**

He arrived at the farmhouse quickly, his respect going up a little for the man when he saw it.

He entered the house before Hiro, having arrived before him, and found himself in what looked like a living room. It was completely made out of wood with a fireplace, a couch, and a dining table by what must have been the kitchen.

Kiroki and Rifana were already there, the girl's hair a little messy. His focus quickly made his way to the couch, where he found Lord Ivyred nursing a wrapped wound on his side.

The man was gritting his teeth, but he took in the new arrival, "Who are you?"

"Forget that for now," Lance stated, "I think we have a bigger problem at the moment. Now, what exactly happened?"

Kiroki answered, "A larger group of bandits came during the night and took Rishia. Lord Ivyred tried to fight them off, but…"

The hunter spared a glance at Rifana, finding a crestfallen look on her face. He would have to deal with that later.

The lord stood up, gripping his side, and turned to Kiroki, "Round up everyone in the village, we're going to look for my daughter. Leave no stone unchecked in the forest." The old man simply nodded and made his way out, passing Hiro as he entered the room, finally catching up to the hunter.

The lord started to follow, only for hiss in pain as he clutched his side and fell back onto the couch, "Dammit!" He hissed, "If only I hadn't gone against Aultcray so many times. I would still have his ear and could ask for reinforcements."

"I doubt he would." Lance muttered, getting the lord's attention.

"Really, who are you?" He asked again.

Hiro spoke up before Lance, "This is Lance Nightshade, the Bow Hero."

The lord's eyes widened considerably at the introduction, "One of the Legendary Heroes?" He stated in shock, "What are you doing here?"

"Hiro and Kiroki asked me to help with the problems around here when they found me in Castle Town." The lord looked at Hiro with surprise before the hunter continued, "Speaking of which, I think we need to plan what to do next about your daughter being kidnapped."

Lord Ivyred turned back to Lance with a serious look, "Of course, Sir Hero. We need to figure out who did it first."

"I figured that out already." The hunter stated matter-of-factly, getting surprised looks from the people in the room, "If the bandits were the same as before that is."

The lord's eyes burned with duty, "Who?!"

'I think that's a yes.' Shade stated.

"The lord of Ashwood village, or the area in general." Lance answered.

The lord reacted in rage, "That swine! I should have known it was him! He already tried to get me to hand over Rishia, and now he's gone as far as kidnapping her! If he so much as touches a hair on her head, I'll slaughter him!"

"Rage isn't needed here." The hunter calmly said to the lord, "We need a plan to get her out."

"Can't you just go to Aultcray for help?" Lord Ivyred asked, "He'll listen to you."

Lance shook his head, "It would take too long. Even on my sparrow it would take one, maybe two days. Who knows what he'll do to your daughter in that time."

If possible, the man became angrier than before. There was desperation in his voice the next time he spoke though, "Can't you just use your authority as a hero to bring that swine down?"

"If I had more solid proof, then sure." Lance stated, "But as it stands, I don't have anything solid. If I went to Aultcray with what I have, he would certainly move to appease me, but that would take too long."

The other three in the room grew more crestfallen.

"That god damned swine!" Lord Ivyred exclaimed, "The only reason he has this much power is because of the Waves! The bastard is using the fear to keep people under his control!"

"That's what I've been able to gather." Lance stated. The Waves happened at the other side of the country, so the Waves themselves weren't what the lord was using.

He was using the idea of it.

People, civilians and low-lives combined, are terrorized by the idea of the Waves. After the first one had hit, it became a very real fear. Being a noble gave the lord an upper hand, allowing him to convince people that if calamity came, he could save them by calling on the heroes.

It was likely that many didn't believe him, but the fear was too real to throw away the possibility that he could be telling the truth.

With that power, he was able to buy himself more power. That power being in the form of crooks and bandits that won't betray him for the sake of the protection the lord provides.

"That slime has no right to rule with such tactics." The lord stated angeierly.

"Even so," Lance spoke, "I might be able to use it to my advantage."

They turned to him confused, and the hunter told them his plan.

**(End)**

**Chapter 14 - An Uninvited Guest - June 22**


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer - I do not own the Destiny franchise or The Rising of the Shield Hero

**Chapter 14 - An Uninvited Guest**

The sun was setting on the day as nobles of all kinds filtered into the gates of the manor. The party, supposedly a celebration of their survival against the Waves, was just starting and most of the guests were still outside. They were still outside for a simple reason.

To get in, you needed an invitation. Something a lot of people wanting to get in didn't have.

After realizing this, Lance's first objective was to get one, causing the hunter to eye the nobles around him for a potential target.

Right now the hunter was undercover, something he decided to do to get in without causing a scene. His hair was a chocolate brown color that blended in with a few of the nobles around him, something he could thank his illusion magic for. As for his dark purple eyes, they were now a bland brown due to a pair of colored contacts. He wore a suit he had borrowed from Lord Ivyred, one that was colored brown. His boots were replaced by a pair of modest dress shoes from this world that was also from Lord Ivyred.

It was that they had a similar size range.

It didn't take Lance long to spot a chatty noble woman off to the side, chatting with her friend rather loudly.

The hunter didn't care about the conversation though. All he cared about was the rather flashy invention slightly sticking out of the purse hanging off of her arm. Passing by, it didn't take any effort for the trained hunter to snag the invitation without detection.

With it, Lance simply walked up to one of the guards at the gate and handed over the gold rimmed piece of paper, gaining entry.

Stepping into the manor's front door, the hunter idaly heard the complaints of a lady noble about how she was invited. Apparently, they didn't believe her.

The front door led into the grand hall of the manor. It was a place filled with nobles and servants alike, the servants catering to the nobles with drinks and small snacks.

The hall itself was large, as expected of a grand hall. A large staircase led up to the second floor and in turn, more rooms of the house. Those halls seemed to be guarded by the hired bandits, who were dressed like typical knights. On the main floor though, there were hallways off to the side, also guarded, and tables at the sides of the room with more refreshments and snacks on them. Lance didn't really care about all of that though, he had other things to worry about.

Namely, his target, the lord of Ashwood village and the majority of the surrounding territory.

The lord was standing at the base of the large staircase. He looked to be around 50 and was overweight, but not overly so. He was just under Lance in height, somewhere just under six feet tall. His eyes were a dark blue and his head was mostly bald with the exception of a few grey hairs.

His dress attire was overly done though. A mix of blues, all different shades, made up his entire outfit. That included a cape with a high collar that rose to the back of his head. The only color other than blue that was featured was the silver highlights.

He was speaking to a group of nobles, none of them seemed to be interested, with a glass of champagne in his hand.

The hunter walked through the crowd, grabbing a glass of champagne from a maid, towards the lord. Not directly to him though, just off to the side where he would not be noticed but still able to hear the conversation.

And what a boring conversion it was.

He could see why the nobles were bored. All the lord was doing was boasting about insignificant things.

He boasted about his home.

He boasted about his large territory.

He even boasted about how lovely some of his maids were, slapping the butt of one of them as she went by.

While that last one vile in itself, there was nothing he could use. That was his goal of listening after all.

'This is a waste of my time.' Lance finally thought as he turned to leave and start the next part of his plan, only with less information than he wanted. Even one thing could help him, but it would seem that he would have to go with what he already had.

A feeling in his gut stopped him though.

It wasn't one of dread, nor was it ominous. No, it was familiar.

He looked in the direction his gut directed him to, only to see a woman. She wore a dark red dress with a design that blended in with the noble women she was talking to. Almost too well in fact. Her eyes were a light hazel, but it was the mousy brown hair that Lance recognized. Once Lance's eyes scanned over her, observing her height and relative size, there was no denying it for the hunter.

That was the same woman he met at the Tower of Sparks.

'What is she doing here?' Lance asked.

'Your guess is as good as mine.' Shade said, speaking up for the first time since they entered the party.

He didn't keep his eyes on the woman for long, not wanting to catch her attention, and started to make his way to the exit descretaly. Once out, they could continue with their plan, only with less solid pieces of information then they were comfortable with.

Only, they had to stop when the woman excused herself from her 'friends' and glanced around before walking to the lord. She didn't spot the hunter, but he did move closer to listen in.

After all, she was up to something, and the lord seemed to be involved.

"Lord Ashwood," She spoke to said lord, grabbing his attention, "It's a pleasure to see you again."

The lord didn't recognize her, that was obvious from his body language, but it seemed that he didn't care as he looked over her body that was being shown by the form fitting dress. In fact, the arrogant lord dismissed the nobles around him and smiled at her.

"The pleasure is mine, miss…" He trailed off purposely, "I'm sorry, but I've seem to have forgotten your name."

She merely laughed in a playful manner, "Miss Umbral, at your service." She responded with a small curtsy.

'The name's fake, but interesing enough.' Shade stated, Lance choosing to stay silent as she continued.

"I just wanted to personally thank you for waving the tolls on the path." She told the lord.

Lance's eyebrow rose, 'Oh?'

That was definitely something to pay attention to. Raising the tolls on the road was one thing, the lord could explain it as needing extra money to fix damages from monsters or something similar, but to discard them completely… that was a serious crime. Part of it was going to the kingdom as a whole after all.

'Is she… feeding us information?' Shade asked, confused.

"Think nothing of it," Lord Ashwood told her with a wave of his hand, outing himself.

'Straight from the source.' Lance replied as he took a sip from the glass he was still holding onto.

Miss Umbral put a hand on her chin in fake thought, "I can't help but wonder though, wouldn't the soldiers at those posts be against waving the toll?"

The lord let out a small laugh, "You'd be surprised what a bit of coin can get you in this kingdom."

Bribery, yet another crime that put anyone away for years.

Sure, nobles did it all the time and weren't persecuted. That was with each other though. Lord Ashwood just admitted to bribing public defenders, or tax collectors if they were at the toll posts. With what they were bribed to due, that took profits from the kingdom itself. That was technically treason.

He had enough information to continue with the night.

The hunter slipped away from the lord's position undetected and left through the entrance, disappearing into the shadows as soon as he stepped out.

'Everything recorded well?' Lance asked his ghost as he vaulted over the wall and back into the city.

'Yup,' Shade responded, 'Uploading to your gauntlet as we speak.'

In a flash of light, Lance's more formal wear was replaced by his armor and his illusioned features were returned to normal.

He didn't travel for long, just to the edge of the property where Rifana was waiting for him. It was a darker part of the property, covered by the shadows of the house.

The weasel girl had changed into an all black version of her normal outfit, making her blend into the shadows well. Her guns were nowhere to be seen, having left them behind because of the noise they would generate.

"Are you ready?" Lance spoke to Rifana as soon as he arrived, grabbing her attention.

She merely nodded in response, a little nervous with what she was tasked to do. Her job was to get into the manor unnoticed and find Rishia while Lance, as the Bow Hero, provided a distraction. It was important for their plan to take the lord down, simply because they didn't want the girl to be used against them in any way.

A flash of light appeared, signaling the appearance of Shade as he moved to Rifana.

That was another thing. They didn't know what Lord Ashwood did to Rishia, so the ghost was going with Rifana just in case.

After all, nobles do seem to love slaves.

"Search the upper floors first," Lance told her, "There was a higher concentration of guards near those entrances."

Rifana nodded and scaled the wall to the property, keeping in the shadows. The hunter didn't miss the unsure look on her face as she left though, causing him to sigh.

She's been blaming herself for what happened ever since last night. She shouldn't though, not with how far away she was. Even if she had been alert to the threat to Rishia, which was unlikely, it would have taken her too long to get to the green haired girl.

Being asleep didn't help matters either, but that was a different issue.

Lance shook those thoughts out of his head for the moment, he had a job to do.

It was a short trek back to the front of the property where a few uninvited nobles still tried to talk their way in, failing miserably. One of the guards at the gate spotted the hunter before anyone else and placed his hand on a sheathed sword on his side.

Only for his eyes to land on the ivory bow attached to Lance's back.

Man's eyes widened, seemingly recognizing the bow. In fact, he probably did seeing as his eyes also checked the hunters black armor. By the time Lance stepped up to the gate, the other guard had noticed him as well.

One of the guards spoke first, although a bit nervously, "S-sir Hero, what brings you here tonight?"

"I wish to speak with your lord." The hunter answered simply, "There is a matter that we need to discuss."

The guard nodded stiffly, "Of course, let me lead the way."

Lance waved him off, "No need. I can find my way around, and I'm sure that the gate still needs to be guarded."

The man looked hesitant but responded, "R-right. You should find Lord Ashwood in the main hall with the other party guests."

The hunter gave a polite nod to the man before entering the main hall for the second time that night.

His entrance was noticed immediately by the nobles closest to the door, seen as they went quiet before whispering. Lance didn't care though, merely moving through the crowd to where he knew the noble was.

By the time the hunter got to the lord, most of the room was looking at him. The lord, however, only noticed Lance when he stopped in front of him.

"Lord Ashwood, I presume?" The hunter asked/stated to the lord.

Said lord waved off Miss Umbral, who he was still talking to, before speaking, "Indeed I am, Sir Hero. May I ask why you grace me with your presence on this night?"

The hunter rolled his eyes underneath his helmet at the dramatic words, "I wish to speak to you about a private matter. Is there anywhere else we could speak?"

"Of course, of course!" The lord stated happily, "Just follow me."

Lance was led upstairs, past the guarded doors, and through the maze like halls of the manor. No windows were on the walls, doors to other rooms in their place. As for where those doors led, the hunter had no idea.

There was only one noticeable thing about the journey though, or rather, one interesting location within the manor. Surrounding an unassuming door, there were two guards. One on either side. There was nothing special about the door that would indicate the need for a guard.

'So that's where they're keeping her.' Lance thought to himself before focusing back on the lord, 'I just hope that Rifana and Shade find it as easily as I did.'

After a few minutes of walking, the Lord finally brought him to a set of double doors that he promptly opened. They opened up to a room with a mainly blue color scheme, a few bits of silver and white mixed in with it. All sorts of decorations from monster skulls to banners with emblems adorned the room. Two navy blue couches were laid in front of a glass table in the center of the room. At the back of the room, there was a wooden desk with a small amount of paperwork on it.

Lord Ashwood made his way behind the wood desk and sat down, gesturing to the seat on the other side for Lance. The hunter just politely declined, choosing to stand.

The lord let out a chuckle before starting the conversation, "Let me tell you, this is an unexpected surprise, seeing you here. I didn't think that one of the Legendary Heroes would be visiting little old me. It is an honor."

The hunter hummed at his attempt at flattery, "Indeed, though I do have to say that your town has a… unique flavor to it, as does your manor. Though, that is not why I am speaking to you tonight. You see, I was requested to investigate a series of unfortunate events that have befallen on Lord Ivyred's village. I came here to make sure it wasn't affecting anyone else as well."

The lord frowned slightly, only slightly, before speaking, "So I have heard. It's truly horrible that Lord Ivyred has befallen such events, but as you might have seen, my territory has been lucky enough to be spared. I have to say though, it's not completely unexpected…" Lord Ashwood trailed off.

Lance merely raised his eyebrow at the statement, "Are you saying that it might Lord Ivyred's fault that the events have befallen his village?"

The lord waved his hands as if he was trying to diffuse that way of thinking, "Oh no! No! At least not directly." He stated, "It's just, Lord Ivyred is not very favored among the rest of the nobility. His decisions are questionable at times and, unfortunately, it shows. After all, ruling a village takes qualities that not everyone possesses."

… What was he aiming at? The lord was trying to direct the conversation to something, laying breadcrumbs that he wanted Lance to follow.

The thing was though, Lance was starting to see this man was going.

The hunter crossed his arms, "You think that if a new leader was put in charge, the village would become more stable?"

Lord Ashwood developed a smile, "Well, I would hate to badmouth my old friend, but must think for the people."

'So it's not just Rishia, huh.' Lance thought to himself, 'He wants the entire territory. Well, the part of the territory he doesn't own.'

It seemed as if Lord Ashwood planned to accuse Lord Ivyred of incompetence, using Lance as a means to get authority over the rest of the region. He would have everything he wanted along with the means to solidify his position when the 'unfortunate events' stopped altogether. Rishia would be reported missing or dead and nobody would question it.

In all honesty, it wasn't that bad of a plan and it might've worked if Lance hadn't done any investigation prior.

Or if he was a brain dead idiot.

Fortunately, Lance was not, in fact, a brain dead idiot.

"Alright, Lord Ashwood, I'll be straight with you." Lance started, "I did not come here to help you, nor did I come here to be manipulated. I simply came here to bring you out of power."

The lord's smile faltered, "W-what. I'm not sure what you mean, Sir Hero."

"You know exactly what I mean," The hunter stated sharply, "but I'll elaborate. Let's start with the toll being 30 times the crown's appointed tax, or maybe we should start with the bribing of government officials and tax collectors."

Lord Ashwood scowled in anger, "Those are just baseless accusations with no proof! I expected better from you, Sir He-"

_"I can't help but wonder though, wouldn't the soldiers at those posts be against waving the toll?"_ A female voice sounded. The lord's laugh followed her question_, "You'd be surprised what a bit of coin can get you in this kingdom."_

_Click_

Lance lifted his finger off of the small, hidden button on his gauntlet, disabling the audio.

"That's not all either." The hunter stated, ignoring the gaping lord, "Let's not forget that you have been hiring bandits to terrorize the neighboring village, along with threatening merchants. The worst thing you've done though, has to be the kidnapping of a lord's daughter."

Lord Ashwood growled in anger, "So what?! Most nobles in this country are corrupt! Hell, even Aultcray is corrupt. How do you think he got the throne? He won't even bat an eye at this if you bring it to him, and even if he does, the worst he will do is slap me on the wrist." He stated the last part with a confident smile.

"You may be right," Lance started, making the lord's smile grow, "But he would still imprison you just to satisfy me. I am one of the Legendary Heroes after all." The lord's smile dropped fast.

Lance continued, "The situation is bigger than that though. Right now, the entire continent is in a state of cold war, and with the Waves happening every month or so, tensions are higher than ever. So, what do you think will happen if the other countries find out that a noble in charge of territory under Melromarc's jurisdiction was not only using the fear of the Waves for their benefit, but also spreading false information about them…?" The hunter let the last part hang as an obvious threat.

Lord Ashwood was sweating rivers now, but he still managed to talk in a shaky voice, "W-why would that even matter?"

"It matters," Lance took a step forward, "Because it will start a war. A big war. I can assure you that even with how the king acts, he cares enough about this country to not spark a war. If the king found out," The hunter leaned close to the lord's face, "Then your head would be separated from your shoulders by the end of the day."

The hunter backed off from the desperate looking lord, an arrow from his bow suddenly in his hand. "I urge you to think about your next actions very carefully, Lord Ashwood."

The lord's hand clenched in anger as he third to think of a way out of the situation, only to sigh in anger before speaking, "Fine, have it your way. What do you want me to do?"

Lance smiled underneath his helmet, 'Good.'

The hunter opened a pouch on his belt and pulled out a rolled up parchment, unfurling it and placing it on the desk in front of the lord, "I want you to sign this official document written by Lord Ivyred that will surrender all of your assets, including this village and territory, to Lord Ivyred. Afterwards, you will leave this place, keep your head low, and never show your face around here again."

"I can't!" The noble shouted with desperation, "I'll be ruined!"

"That's the point." Lance responded.

The seething noble relented, grabbing his quill and signing the document. His name written underneath Lord Ivyred and Lance's own signatures.

After it was done the hunter reclaimed the document, rolling it up and placing it back into the pouch on his belt.

"I expect for you to be gone within the hour." Lance stated to the former lord before turning around and heading to the exit, arrow spinning in his hand.

The sound of metal against sheath was heard, causing the hunter to sigh as he spun around and dodged to the side.

'He just has to make this hard… er….' Lance's own thoughts trailed off as he saw the sword graze a pouch on his belt, cutting a piece of it off.

It was the biggest pouch on his belt. The most important one around his waist.

The white corner of the ghost barely slipped out, but it was enough.

_Snap!_

The next thing Lance knew, he was on top of the former lord with a hand on his head and an arrow in his broken neck.

He didn't care though, his hands shooting to the ghost in his belt. Lifting it up to his eyes, he inspected it thoroughly and found no damage. Not a scratch.

'That's right,' Lance thought, remembering a detail Salazar told him some time ago, 'Only cursed weapons can damage a ghost.'

He turned back to the dead noble and sighed. Now he had a corpse to get rid of.

**(Rifana and Shade - Earlier)**

Her job was simple compared to Lance-sama's. All she had to do was get in, find Rishia, and get out.

So why did she feel so nervous?

The shadows covered her form as she jumped the wall of the lord's property, easily gaining access to the property. She was hidden so well that even the stray rabbit she had landed next to didn't flinch.

So why was she so anxious?

It wasn't that hard to figure out if you really looked into it.

Rifana was distraught about what happened with Rishia, the reason she was here in the first place. She blamed herself, plain and simple.

She blamed herself for failing Lance-sama and letting a girl get kidnapped under her watch.

The weasel girl climbed the wall of the manor, using vines that grew on that wall to get to a second story window and open it without a sound. She entered the room with a roll, finding it to be a dark and empty bedroom.

She won't fail this time though. This time, she'll save the girl and make Lance-sama proud.

'There's nobody outside of the door,' The voice of Shade sounded within her head, starling her, 'It's safe to move on.'

The girl nodded in response.

Shade was with her for multiple reasons, the main one being the possibility of a slave crest. The Ghost could strip slave crests off easily, her own being an example. Along with that, Shade was there to provide information she wouldn't be able to get otherwise. The information he just provided was a great example.

Rifana also had the suspicion that the Ghost was also there to keep an eye on her for Lance-sama, to make sure she didn't mess up.

She would prove to them that they could trust her though. No matter what.

Rifana slowly opened the door of the room, quickly finding that it led to the hallway. After closing the door just as quietly, she hugged the wall and moved down the hallway slowly. Every once and awhile, Rifana had to duck into a room in order to dodge a passing guard or maid.

It only took five minutes to find what they were looking for.

'There are two guards around the corner.' Shade stated suddenly, 'They seemed to be positioned in front of a door.'

She slowly peaked around the corner and found that the Ghost was right. In front of a door a few doors down were two men in armor.

She stopped peaking before asking in a whisper, "Can you tell what's in the room?"

'Hold on.' He said before going silent for a second. Only a second though, 'I'm picking up a magical signature, but it's all over the place. It's almost like the signature is a little bit of every element.'

'That's definitely Rishia.' Rifana thought to herself, 'But how are we going to get in there?'

'We could knock out the guards.' Shade chimed in, making the weasel girl jump.

'Did you just… respond to my thoughts?' She thought hesitantly.

'Yup.' The Ghost replied happily, 'Why, didn't you know I could do that?'

'No!' Rifana exclaimed in her head.

'Oh… sorry?' Shade responded awkwardly.

After a second of getting used to the fact that the Ghost could essentially read her mind when he was in there, Rifana projected her thoughts once more, 'I don't think taking these guards out is the best idea. It's too risky when out in the open like this.'

'What do you suggest then?' Shade asked her, making her think.

What could she do that wouldn't draw attention?

'Guard, coming this way!' The ghost spoke up, making Rifana quickly duck into the room of the door she was next to.

The room was the same as the others, that being just a bedroom with a window. That is where she got an idea.

Something unusual about the windows in this manor was the fact that all of them opened inwards. It was a little quirk that was probably only there because of the original builders putting them in from the outside.

Rifana opened the window and looked out at the other windows that started at the turn of the building. On each window, there was a small ledge. It happened to be just big enough to stand on.

'Shade,' She started to ask, 'Which window belongs to the guarded room?'

'The third one down.' Shade responded, seeing what she was going for, 'Just be careful will you?'

Rifana nodded absentmindedly before stepping out onto the window ledge. Looking down, it was easy to see that she was on the second floor of a mansion, but she ignored it. With a small hop, she landed on the next window's ledge. Looking in showed her an empty room. Carefully inching along, she lined up her next jump and took it.

The girl landed on the next ledge with a small wobble, almost falling if she didn't grab the window's external lock. After straightening out though, she made the last jump. The window rattled as she landed, drawing the attention of the green haired girl inside.

Rishia looked fine as ever. A little ruffled, but fine. Her mouth went wide when she saw the weasel girl, but she didn't say anything as Rifana put a finger over her lips.

With a small twist Rifana found that, surprisingly, the window wasn't locked. Opening the window easily, she stepped into the room.

"Come on, we need to go." The weasel whispered to Rishia, waving her over to the window.

"Why ar- How are yo-" The green haired girl tried to question as she got to Rifana, only to be shussed.

"You can ask me later." Rifana said, "We need to leave, now."

The weasel girl didn't give the green haired girl a chance to respond before she was picked up bridal style, causing her to softly 'eep' with a small blush.

Only for her face to turn fearful as Rifana prepared to jump out of the window and to the ground.

"W-wait-" Rishia tried to protest, only to be cut off as Rifana jumped.

To her credit, she didn't scream.

Just before they hit the ground, Rifana kicked her feet hard and muttered "Stop" under her breath. The air beneath her feet kicked up, stopping her in place for a second before letting gravity take hold again. With that she landed on the ground softer than she should have.

"T-tell me the next t-time you plan to do that." Rishia demanded halfheartedly as Rifana let go of her.

The weasel girl rubbed the back of her neck, "Sorry."

**(Lance - Greenpine Village)**

They all arrived at the village in the dead of night, but they still found Lord Ivyred waiting for them.

The tearful reunion between father and daughter brought a small smile to Lance's face and a beaming smile from Rifana's.

"I can't thank you enough, Sir Hero!" Lord Ivyred exclaimed, bowing to Lance, "I don't know how I could ever repay you for saving my daughter!"

The hunter chuckled at the sight, "You should be thanking Rifana here." He stated while rubbing siad girl's head, making her blush, "She's the one that got Rishia out. I was busy getting this."

At the last part, Lance pulled the rolled up document from the pouch on his belt and handed it to the lord. The lord opened it and inspected it, finding Lord Ashwood's signature on it before rolling it back up.

"I will admit," Lord Ivyred started, "When you told me your plan I was sceptical that you could get Ashwood to sign this, but here it is. What happened to him afterwards?"

"He ran," Lance stated with no hesitation, "There was nothing else for him to do."

"Good riddance then." The lord said in response.

"S-sir hero?" Rishia asked from the side, "You mean one of the four L-legendary Heroes?"

Lance raised an eyebrow, but nodded nonetheless. The girl immediately flushed, hands clasped in front of her, and stared at him in awe.

Honestly, it was a little weird to the hunter.

Rifana yawned next to him, causing her to blush as he noticed and chuckled. Lance turned back to the Ivyreds, "I think we'll be turning in for the night."

Lord Ivyred chuckled softly as well before holding his side, still being injured.

"I assume you'll be leaving in the morning then?" The lord stated/slashed asked, getting Lance to nod.

"We're still on a hunt after all." The hunter stated, "We'll be leaving as soon as we can."

A confused expression appeared on the lord's face, "A hunt? For what?"

At first Lance wasn't going to say, but then he thought about it.

'You know what, it couldn't hurt to ask them.' The hunter though.

'You're right,' Shade responded, 'But I think Rifana should go ahead and go. She looks tired.'

Shade was right of course. It seemed that the activities that night had tired her out more than he thought. That and a combination of the stress she had. So, Lance sent Rifana to the inn, promising that he would be there shortly.

Once she left, the hunter spoke to the lord once again, "Me and Rifana are not necessarily hunting per say. We're searching for someone. A little demi-human girl, about ten years with orange fox ears and a matching tail. You wouldn't have happened to see her recently, have you?"

The lord put his hand on his chin in though for a second before speaking, "Now that you mention it, we did see a demi-human girl pass by the village a few weeks ago. She looked worse for wear, but she ran away when we offered help. I think she was heading east, up into the mountains."

'Yes, a lead!' Shade exclaimed in excitement.

'Even so, who knows how far she has gone.' Lance responded, 'Why was she alone though?'

"U-um, Hero-sama?" The nervous voice of Rishia asked, breaking him out of his thoughts.

"Yes?" He asked, prompting Rishia to continue.

"I-I wanted -to know if I c-could…" She steeled herself before continuing, "I-I would like to join your p-party!"

'… What?' The Ghost asked confused.

"Huh?" Lance stated, surprised.

"What?!" Lord Ivyred exclaimed in confusion.

"Why?" The hunter asked, completely confused.

"H-hero-sama, me and the r-rest of my family owe you a d-debt we will n-never be able to r-repay. So, even if I-Im not strong, I want to b-be of use in any way I can!" She stuttered and was fidgeting, but there was something more in her eyes. They had resolution in them.

Lance was having none of it.

"You don't owe me anything Rishia." Lance stated seriously, "I didn't do any of this expecting to get a reward out of it, I did it because it was the right thing to do. You have no idea what you're sacrificing with such a request. It's a generous offer, but I can't accept it knowing full well that you have people, family, that care about you. The Waves are terrible things filled with death, and I won't subjugate anyone to that knowing that they have their full life ahead of them."

Both of the Ivyreds looked slightly stunned at the little speech before Rishia spoke again, "W-what about Rifana? She's i-in your party, right?"

"That was more out of necessity." The hunter stated sadly, "She wasn't this full grown, confident woman when we first met. She was a slave, barely alive and being hunted. She had no one to go to, no one to help her. No one except for me. I took her in, trained her, took care of her, and when she had grown enough for us to go our separate ways, I just couldn't."

"But you, Rishia Ivyred," He stated, turning back to the girl, "Have people that appreciate you for who you are. You have people that will help you through your life when you need it. Most of all, you have people that love you and everything you are. Don't let their love be in vain."

The two were silent at his speech. He was beginning to think that he said something wrong before Lord Ivyred spoke, "Beautifully said, Sir Hero."

**(Inn - Later)**

Lance arrived at the inn just as Rifana was starting to lay down, causing her to sit back up.

"Lance-sama, your back!" Rifana stated the obvious, but Lance didn't mind.

"Yes, I am." He said with a little chuckle, "Sorry it took so long to get back, we had more to discuss than I thought."

"It's fine, but…" The girl started, watching Lance pull out a book and sit down at the desk in the room, "Are you going to get any sleep tonight?"

The hunter paused in his actions before speaking, "I don't need sleep though."

Rifana rolled her eyes, "I know, but haven't you ever tried?"

"Well, yeah, but-" Lance responded, but was cut off by the weasel girl.

"Isn't it relaxing?" She asked, "To just be able to lay down and rest?"

"I-I guess, but-" He was cut off again, this time by Rifana getting up and grabbing his arm.

"Then you're going to do that tonight, because I think you deserve it for all of the things you've done today." The girl stated, dragging him over to a bed.

Lance, being surprised, didn't resist, "All right, just let me get my armo-" A flash of light signaled Shade taking the hunter's armor, the Ghost having watched this silently and finding it funny.

Without his armor, the hunter wore a pitch black t-shirt and cargo pants that had a white, black, and dark grey color scheme to them. Shade had also taken his boots, leaving him with black socks.

Immediately after, Rifana finished dragging Lance over to the bed, practically dragging him onto it.

Though, just as suddenly as she had gained her confidence for such a move, she lost it to shyness as she didn't let go of his arm. Rifana instead chose to, with a face stained red, lay next to him.

"What are yo-" It seemed that he just couldn't get a sentence out, seeing that the suddenly shy Rifana interrupted him.

"I-i'm just doing this s-so you won't get up in the middle of the n-night." She stated with a stutter.

With the soft bed under him and the warm body next to him, he couldn't find it in himself to argue as he drifted off to sleep.

His last thought before his eyes closed completely was that, 'This isn't so bad.'

**(End)**

**Chapter 15 - The Dragon's Mountain - July 6**


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer - I do not own the Destiny franchise or The Rising of the Shield Hero

I'm super, super sorry that this chapter came out late. I honestly didn't mean for it to.

Halfway through writing it though, I started to feel under the weather.

What I mean is I felt sick, really sick.

All of the stomach problems combined with headaches have made the past week not so fun, but I wanted to get a chapter out instead of just leaving you all with just an author's note.

So, here you go. I hope you enjoy it.

**Chapter 15 - The Dragon's Mountain**

"Have you picked up anything?" Lance asked the Vex themed ghost floating in the middle of the clearing.

The Ghost's shell was expanded, forming a sphere of blue light that sent out a wave of similar light every few seconds. One last wave of light was seen before he collapsed into his usual shape.

"Yeah," Shade responded, "I think. It's definitely Holy magic, that's for sure, but it's very faint."

"How old would you say it is?" The hunter asked.

"Two weeks," Shade responded, "At most."

Lance sighed upon hearing that, "At least we have a trail now, that's more than before. Is the trace pointing east?" The hunter asked the last part after a second.

"Yup." Shade answered, "Just like Lord Ivyred said."

The hunter hummed before turning to Rifana, who was sitting cross legged and eyes closed at the edge of the clearing, and calling out to her, "Rifana, we're done here. Let's get going."

The air seemed to change when her eyes snapped open, effectively breaking her out of her trance. She nodded and stood up, walking over to the hunter and his ghost.

Her staff and scout rifle were slung over her shoulder, but other than that, nothing stood out about her as her normal outfit was the same. Something the hunter was hoping to change soon, but that was for later.

"Will we be continuing towards the mountains?" Rifana asked as she got next to the hunter.

Lance nodded as he started to walk on, continuing their journey, "Yeah, but we won't be going blindly anymore. Shade managed to pick up the trail we're looking for."

The weasel girl perked up from beside him, "Well, that's good. We might be able to find her before the next Wave."

"Hopefully," Shade said as he floated slightly ahead of them, "That's the plan at least."

"We still don't know if the girl is alive right now." Lance stated bluntly, "After all, it's unlikely that she could survive out in the wilderness alone."

"We just have to hope that she either found a safe place to stay," The ghost replied, "Or is lucky enough to survive until we can get to her."

The conversation dropped off, making them walk through the forest in silence while Shade scanned something every once in a while but otherwise flew around them, finally having the ability to do so without chance of being found.

That was until the Ghost suddenly stopped, causing Lance and in turn Rifana to stop, and turned to a random stretch of forest to the side.

"Didn't expect to find him out here." Shade muttered under his breath(?).

"What do you mean?" Lance asked his Ghost, having heard his mutter.

"I'm picking up Naofumi's, well, his shield's, magical signature close by." The Ghost responded, "About 50ft ahead."

"That must mean Raphtalia is there too." Rifana stated excitedly before rushing ahead, "Come on, let's meet up with them."

The hunter turned to his Ghost and shrugged after a second, making Shade disappear in a flash of light before the Guardian followed.

It didn't take Lance long to catch up to Rifana, and when he did, the hunter found her in a clearing with a few familiar faces.

Naofumi and Raphtalia were in front of a large filolial and seemed to be in the middle of hooking up said bird to a cart that seemed to be carrying a good amount of supplies. As soon as Rifana entered the thought, the two of them stopped what they were doing and turned to the weasel girl.

"Raphtalia!" Rifana exclaimed while running up to the girl, engulfing her in a happy hug.

"R-Rifana!" Raphtalia stated in surprise, "Where did you come from?"

Lance turned his attention to Naofumi, who turned to him at the same time with a raised eyebrow, "We picked up your shield's magical signature, so we decided to drop by. I am wondering though, what's with the filolial? You didn't have it the last time I saw you."

The filolial itself was easily twice, maybe three times the size of a normal filolial. It was covered in white feathers with only a dash of pink feathers on its front. Big blue eyes and an orange beak adorned its face. Around its neck was a blue collar with two rings, one on either side for the reigns of the cart to attach to.

"I got her when we went to the slave trader." Naofumi explained, "There was an egg gotcha game and I purchased one. A few days later, it hatched into Filo here."

Lance gave him an unseen look, "Filo? As in filolial?"

"Yup," A cheery voice exclaimed happily, "That's me!"

Lance snapped his head to the voice, only to find Filo standing innocently.

'A talking filolial?' Shade stated, confused.

'So I wasn't imagining that?' The hunter asked/stated in response to the Ghost.

"Filo," Naofumi spoke out, "What did I say about speaking in this form. It creeps people out."

"Oops." She said cheerfully, but a little lower, "Sorry master."

The shield wielder sighed before turning back to Lance, "She's a filolial queen, so she can talk and change into a humanoid form.

'That's… fascinating actually.' Shade stated upon hearing Naofumi, 'Although, I do wonder what are the limi-'

They were suddenly interrupted by the noise of footfalls coming from the forested path behind the group, causing all of them to turn. What they found was a group of two people, one being a young boy and the other a elderly woman.

The boy had brown hair and a simple blue outfit while the woman had short, light grey hair and a dark gray set of robes. She also had a large backpack and a walking cane.

Lance and the group only regarded each other for a second before moving.

After a few minutes, everyone was sitting on a few logs that were laying on the ground. The boy and woman had eaten a quick stew Naofumi made while they jurney they had been on so far.

"You folks had better turn back." Were the first words out of the woman's mouth.

'That's reassuring.' Shade stated a little sarcastically in Lance's mind.

The boy spoke immediately after her, "If you keep going, you'll die."

'Yep,' The Ghost continued, 'Definitely reassuring.'

Rifana and Raphtalia made sounds of confusion at the boy's declaration. Lance on the other had, spoke up.

"Is there something dangerous down the path?" The hunter questioned the two as he sat down on the log in front of them.

"We heard that there's a village down this path." Naofumi followed, "Did something happen to it?"

The woman looked down, crestfallen, "The village is done for." She stated sadly, "The plague even got the village elder."

'A plague?' Shade asked, a little surprised.

"What kind of plague?" Lance asked the two wanderers, only to receive negative answers.

"We don't know." The woman stated, "We believe it blew in with the wind from the mountain, but we don't know why."

The two didn't have any other information about what happened, so after they rested up they continued away from the village.

The group on the other hand, didn't even need to tell the others what they were going to do. After a few minutes of setting up the cart and packing away the rest of their stuff, they set off by cart to the village.

**(The Village Entrance - 30 Minutes Later)**

Lance and Naofumi walked ahead of the cart and into the village gate, Naofumi leading Filo along.

'She certainly wasn't lying,' Shade spoke up, 'There is poison in the air. Though the wind is low now, so there isn't much.'

'How deadly is it?' Lance asked, slightly concerned for everyone with him.

'In low quantities like this, not enough to kill someone outright.' Shade answered, 'Give it time and it will, but it won't be deadly to any of us if the air stays settled like this.'

"What brings all of you to a place like this?" A voice from a nearby home questioned, making Lance and Naofumi turn to it.

It was an old and sickly man with grey hair, a yellow shirt covered by a brown vest, and black trousers.

Naofumi answered, "I'm a traveling merchant. I'm here to sell you medicine."

"A traveling merchant?" The old man asked, only for his eyes to go wide and for him to step out, "Wait, that filolial… Could it be the Heavenly Fowl?"

He didn't wait for an answer, instead choosing to rush down the hill to a nearby building while calling, "Sensei!"

Lance turned to Naofumi, "The Heavenly Fowl?"

"I don't know." The shielder let out in an exasperated sigh.

The old man quickly came back and led them, including Rifana and Raphtalia, to the building he had run to before. Filo had to stay outside with the cart. Being led inside they found themself in a reception area, it was run down though. Most likely through constant use.

A man was waiting for them inside. He had brown hair with a matching beard and small mustache. He wore grey robes with a white overcoat that sported a hood. His hands were put together nervously.

"'Sensei'?" Was what Naofumi asked as soon as they saw him.

"I run the village clinic." The doctor explained before asking, "Are you really…" he didn't complete the question as Naofumi spoke.

"I'm only here to sell you medicine." The shielder announced.

"Even that would be a great help!" The doctor exclaimed happily as he started to lead them down a hallway, "I cannot make nearly enough for everyone!"

They quickly got to the end of the hallway, reaching and opening a door to another room. This room was just as beat up as everything else. The only difference was the people laying down in beds all around the room.

From a glance, it was easy to see that they were all sick.

"Sensei," A woman garbed in pink and white healing robes started, "Who are these people?"

"They're here to sell us medicine." The doctor answered simply.

"Looking at this," Naofumi stated, seeing the patients, "I should probably give them the medicine myself."

The two healers and a curious Lance and Rifana watched as the shielder walked up to and crouched next to the man in the closest bed. He uncorked a bottle from his belt pouch and poured it into the person's mouth. As he did that, his shield, in the shape of a book, glowed green. Immediately, the man looked better. It was as if the medicine had cured the poison outright.

With the help of the others, Naofumi healed the other patients in the room. They all looked healthier, free of the poisonous plague, but Shade knew differently.

'The medicine didn't cure them.' The Ghost stated as Lance walked out of the clinic.

Said hunter raised an eyebrow, 'What do you mean by that? They looked better to me.'

'I was able to scan a few of them.' Shade started, 'The medicine managed to destroy a lot of the pathogen, but it wasn't good enough to get rid of the more deep rooted parts of it. Give it time with this poisonous air, and they will be right where they started.'

The hunter was silent, thinking about the next course of action. They knew that the village was being poisoned, though they didn't know what was doing it. They did know that it was in the mountains however.

'We need to investigate the mountains.' Lance stated to his Ghost.

'Agreed,' Shade said, 'But I suggest talking with the doctor first. He may have some more information on what's going on.'

The hunter nodded to the air before searching for the doctor again.

It was easy enough to find him. The doctor was in his office with his assistant. They were standing in front of Naofumi and the demi-human girls. They seemed to be in the middle of a conversation, one that wasn't going so well.

"We know that we can't let this go on, but…" The pink garbed assistant exclaimed before going soft, "There's nothing we can do."

"What do you mean?" Raphtalia asked in a gentle voice.

"We believe the wind from the eastern mountain is the cause." The nurse replied, "It's home to many monsters."

Rifana raised an eyebrow, "The mountain that's home to monsters?"

The doctor nodded, "Around a month ago, a large dragon that nested there was killed by the Sword Hero."

'Really?' Shade asked confused before realization struck him, 'Wait, don't tell me Ren didn't get rid of the body.'

Lance understood what he meant. A dragon, from what he knew, was the size of several school busses stacked on and beside each other. That was a lot of decayable matter. If Ren just left it out there in the open, then that would easily explain the poisonous air.

"What does that have to do with the plague?" Naofumi asked, uncertain of the answer.

"In order to see the dragon's body and to gather materials," The doctor started, "Many adventurers came to our village. That certainly helped the village flourish, but one day, an adventurer collapsed with more following. The dragon's flesh must have begun to rot and emit some kind of poison."

Lance put his hand on his face, 'Dammit Ren. I know you're young, but even you should know that meat rots.'

"If you know the cause," Raphtalia said, "Then why don't you get rid of it?"

"That mountain is filled with violent monsters." The nurse explained sadly, "Only adventurers can go there safely. We can't do anything about it."

"And," The doctor picked up, "Due to the dragon's poison, the ecology there has changed too. The average adventurer cannot get anywhere near the corpse."

"Have you informed the kingdom about this?" Rifana spoke up, "They should send people to help."

The man nodded, "Yeah, we are slated to receive a medicine delivery soon."

"But they said the heroes are too busy to help for a while." The nurse explained.

"Then it seems like the kingdom hasn't been keeping a good enough tab on me." Lance spoke out from the doorway, making several people jump, not realizing he was there.

"What do you mean?" The doctor asked, before looking him up and down. When his eyes landed on the bow on Lance's back, his eyes widened in realization, "Wait, you're the Bow Hero, aren't you?"

The hunter nodded, "Yes, I am. Go ahead and cancel the request you made to the court."

The demi-human girls smiled while the doctor and his nurse looked surprised, "You're going out there?"

"Always have been since I got here." The hunter stated matter of factly before turning to Naofumi, "Care to join me?"

The shielder stood up, "I was already planning on it, so you don't have to ask."

The doctor bowed to them, "I can't find the words to express our gratitude."

"Keep your thanks, what I want is money." Naofumi stated bluntly, his eyes shifting to Lance before going back to the man, "250 silvers will cover it."

"250?!" The doctor asked, shocked at the amount, "That's a lot of money!"

"That includes hazard pay." Naofumi stated as he walked to the door of the room, "You can just pay me what you were going to pay the court."

The nurse let out a low growl, "'Savior' my foot. He's just a money-grubber."

"Stop that!" The doctor tried to whisper to the nurse, only to be interrupted by Naofumi.

"I don't recall ever calling myself a savior." With that he exited the room, leaving the nurse and doctor looking a little worried.

"Don't mind his attitude." Lance stated to them, making them turn, "He just isn't that trusting."

The doctor slowly nodded as the hunter started to follow Naofumi, Raphtalia and Rifana behind him.

"Good luck Sir Hero!" The doctor called out to the Guardian just before he exited the building.

When they stepped outside, Raphtalia ran over to help Naofumi get ready for the trip. Lance and Rifana headed the same way, just at a slower pace.

'So,' Shade started, 'All we have to do is travel to a dangerous mountain, dismantle and dispose of a dragon corpse, and return without dying from the poison. Seems easy enough.'

The hunter rolled his eyes, 'Saying that is just going to make this harder.'

'That's just superstit… Uh oh.' Shade said all of a sudden, getting Lance to stop in his tracks.

'Uh oh? What do you mean 'Uh oh'?' The hunter asked, suddenly worried.

'The wind is starting to pick up, quite fast in fact.' The Ghost responded, 'I can already pick up an increase in the levels of poison in the air. If it keeps rising like this, it will be deadly within the next one or two hours.'

Lance cursed under his breath. That was bad. They need to find a way to stop the wind's increase, and quickly. But what could possibly stop a force of nature like tha-

"Lance-sama," The voice of Rifana sounded from next to him, dragging his attention to it, "Is something wrong?"

… Well, that's one way.

"Rifana," Lance started, "How much control over the air do you have with your magic?"

**(Path Up The Eastern Mountain - Half A Day Later)**

With her affinity over Wind Magic, Rifana was able to stop the worst of the mountainous winds from going through the village. The only problem though, was the fact that she had to stay nearby to keep it up, so she stayed in the village proper.

Meanwhile, Lance, Naofumi, Raphtalia, and Filo traveled by cart to the mountain where the dragon's corpse was supposed to be.

It was a faster journey than expected for the hunter, but this filolial, Filo, was the fastest one he had ever seen. She easily made it to the mountain with the cart being pulled behind.

Naofumi was handling the reins while Raphtalia sat next to him. Lance stood behind both of them, standing within a clear space in the cart.

The shielder and the swords woman both had a piece of cloth wrapped around their mouths and noses in an attempt to keep themselves safe from the poison in the air. Naofumi had the extra protection of a new shield on his arm.

This shield was the fanciest one Lance had seen yet. It was diamond like in shape, every side having a slight indent in the middle of it. Two golden vipers formed somewhat of a figure eight on the front, a green gem in the middle. The rim of the shield was made out of gold while the main body of it was a green steel.

The "Chimera's Viper Shield" is what Naofumi called it, and it apparently gave him a poison resistance buff. Lance himself had switched to his Le Monarque.

"I know we're dealing with a dragon here," Raphtalia started, "But this is a huge loadout."

Lance looked at the cargo and saw what she meant. The cart was full with baskets of food, crates of medicine, tools, and other assorted items that a traveler would need. To bring it all on a dragon hunt was a little excessive though.

"We had to take the wagon either way." Naofumi explained, "A little more luggage is no problem."

Raphtalia crossed her arms and looked at the humming filolial dragging the cart, "We could've traveled lighter if Filo hadn't thrown a tantrum."

That was strange to think about. Specifically the fact that the large filolial currently pulling along this very heavy cart, was in reality a little girl with long blond hair, small angel wings, wearing a light blue/white dress.

"I don't know what to do about Filo's selfishness." Raphtalia continued.

"It might have been a good idea actually." Lance stated, being the first to see the crowd of monsters up ahead, "It would be incredibly slow going if we had to fight everything in our path."

Naofumi seemed to have the same idea, holding his hand out to start casting magic, "As the Shield Hero, source of my power, I order thee. Decipher the laws of nature and defend my target. Faust Guard!"

A shield of green energy covered Filo, causing her to gasp slightly, before Naofumi yelled out, "Run right through them Filo!"

It didn't take that much longer for the group to reach the peak of the mountain where the dragon was supposed to be. They left the cart at the end of the trail and went the rest of the way on foot.

They carried pickaxes and a hammer to pull apart the corpse with. Not the most effective way, but since Naofumi and Lance couldn't hold anything like a sword or a knife to make it easier.

As they walked up the hill to their target, Raphtalia gagged slightly at the smell.

"The air here is stagnant." Naofumi stated.

"It certainly confirms the rotting corpse." Lance followed, seemingly unaffected by the smell.

That was pretty accurate actually. He was wearing an airtight helmet after all.

"Stay back if you're having a hard time with it." The shielder stated to Raphtalia.

"No, I'll be fine." The girl stated, standing straighter and forging ahead.

Only to stop as she spotted the dragon's corpse. It was big, probably the size of a small Arcadia class jumpship. It was a mix of blue and purple scales, but the rotting was obvious. Holes were rotted into the flesh of the dead beast. Its wings were ripped and blood poured from every hole, only to pool on the ground in dry puddles.

"We should've eaten before coming here." Naofumi stated upon seeing the corpse, "Looking at this is making me lose my appetite."

Loud chewing behind them made the group of three turn around, only to see Filo devouring the baskets of fruit.

She turned to them before saying, "Looking at it made me hungry."

'... Ok, that's kind of disgusting.' Shade stated in Lance's mind, and the hunter found himself agreeing.

Like it was normal, Raphtalia merely called out to the bird, "Don't overeat!" Before turning back to the dragon.

Naofumi sighed when they got closer to the unmoving corpse, "Looking at its size, even taking it apart will be a pain."

"It would probably be more efficient to burn it anyway." Lance stated as he walked beside the two.

The small clatter of rocks made them stop in their tracks and look to its source. It came from something by the dragon's body.

At least, that's what they thought before the hollow eyes of the corpse glowed red and its body started to move. The dried blood that was pooled around it was absorbed back into its body and the wings mended themselves.

It reared its head into the sky and roared.

{Necromantic Dragon - LV 85}

'A zombie dragon!? Seriously!?' Shade exclaimed, 'What kind of luck is that?!'

"Naofumi-sama," Raphtalia started, sounding shocked/scared at the monster in front of them, "What do we do?"

"Get away from it for now." Naofumi stated in a serious tone.

"Agreed." Lance replied, turning and running back with them.

Right now, they needed to form a plan. That monster was way above what Naofumi and Raphtalia could handle at the moment, especially with the still poisonous air still hanging around.

A yell ruined his thoughts however.

"Hyaaaaaaaah!" A flash of motion raced into the sky in front of the group, landing with a thud behind them. When they turned around, they found Filo standing in front of them

"A dragon!" The filolial shouted as she launched herself at said dragon, "I hate dragons!"

'What is she-' Shade was interrupted by the swift kick to the dragon's face. Filo landed a solid hit easily, throwing the dragon to the side for a moment.

"Maybe we can fight it." Naofumi stated to the side, only to notice purple smoke billow from the dragon's mouth, "Everyone, get behind me!"

The group, including the raging Filo, obliged and crowded behind the shielder, and just in time too. From the dragon's mouth, a fountain of condensed dark purple smoke streaked across the clearing and collided with an energy field produced by Naofumi's shield.

It didn't work completely though.

'The poison is getting past the barrier!' Shade exclaimed as Raphtalia started to cough, 'We need to stop the dragon's breath!'

He was right. The dragon wasn't letting up with its attack, and Raphtalia's coughing fit was only getting worse. Naofumi couldn't let go of his hold and it was too dangerous for Filo to go after the dragon alone.

It was time to act.

A quick smoke bomb in hand caused Lance to fade from sight, allowing him to exit the barrier without the dragon knowing. From there, the hunter did the quickest thing he could think of to redirect the dragon's aim.

He kicked it in the face.

_[Alert! Archer's Tempo]_

_[Bow Hero Unique Status Effect]_

_[All Non-Arrow And Non-Magical Means Of Attacking Have Their Damage Reduced By 95%]_

That was fine, at least in Lance's eyes. It still accomplished his goal after all.

The dragon's head snapped to the side, releasing Naofumi and the rest from its deadly breath. The shielder looked surprised to see Lance land on the ground after having kicked the dragon, but ultimately got distracted by Filo charging straight in.

"Filo!" Naofumi yelled, "We have to get away and regroup!"

She didn't listen to him, instead she decided to attack the dragon directly. She got swatted away for the attempt. The dragon tried to take advantage of the opening, only for an arrow to impact it in the face, shifting its focus.

Unfortunately for Lance, this world seemed like it really wanted to keep his power in check.

_[Alert! Soft Flesh!]_

_[This Rotting, Undead Beast Is Decomposed To Such An Extent That Piercing Damage Will Pass Through It Without Dealing Any Damage. This Creature Can Only Be Harmed By Blunt, Slashing, And Magical Damage.]_

'Alright, that's it!' Lance thought angrily, 'Just what is it with this world not allowing me to deal damage to boss monsters? Is it something I did?'

He didn't get any answers to his questions, and instead watched as Filo rammed her foot into the dragon's chin, knocking it's head up. That didn't mean he stopped fighting though.

Filo went in for another kick to the dragon's jaw, only for the dragon to expect it and aim its mouth in her direction. Another arrow stopped it though, one specifically aimed for the bone of the dragon's neck, causing its head to lurch to the side.

With that, Filo's attack hit its target and snapped the dragon's head to the side. It snapped back just as fast, hitting the filolial and making her fly off and land to the side. On the edge of the crater they were in to be specific.

Lance fired another well placed shot into the bone of the dragon, this time with a Grappling Arrow. Once the arrow sunk in, the hunter pulled the cable with all of his strength, pulling the dragon's head away from Filo in the process.

The filolial launched herself off of the wall and straight at the dragon, only to turn to the voice of Naofumi yelling her name.

"Filo!" The shielder exclaimed, trying to get her attention so they can retreat.

It was then that the cable snapped.

Time slowed to a crawl for Lance, his thoughts moving at a million miles a second. Filo was distracted, flying through the air directly towards the dragon as it turned back to face her. She was going to be eaten in the next second, and he had no idea how he could stop it.

He wasn't fast enough to make it across the field in time to push her out of the way, to save her from the maw of the beast. No one would be fast enough, not unless you could teleport. That's when it hit him.

Blink.

A move Voidwalkers learned on their path to understand the untamed Void. It let them cross distances in less than the blink of an eye by crossing through the Void itself.

He didn't know how to though, he had never done it. He had to try though.

Lance pulled the knowledge that his fireteam member, Cornelius Pond, had told him about Blinking.

"Don't think about where you are, or what you will be passing through. One will give no result and the other will outright kill you if you are lucky. Only think about your destination, and tear a hole into the Void for only a second."

He concentrated, focusing on the image of Filo, before reaching out into the Void. He put all of his energy into grabbing a hold of the thin layer that seperated the world from the Void, and pulled.

It ripped open.

The next thing Lance knew, his shoulder rammed into Filo. She squaked as she was pushed away from the dragon's maw.

The same couldn't be said for the hunter.

The giant mouth of the dragon clamped down onto its new target, making the sound of crunching metal be that last thing Lance heard as the world went black.

**(Naofumi)**

Filo landed hard onto the ground nearby, but Naofumi couldn't focus on that. The sound of crunching metal and the sight of Lance being swallowed filled his mind.

As the dragon shot its poisonous breath at him and Raphtalia, his mind drifted through the things Lance had done for him.

The Bow Hero had defended him at the rigged trail. He never believed a word that Malty spoke about him. He teamed up with Naofumi during the wave and even faked removing Raphtalia's slave crest in front of the king and the entire noble counsel.

Lance was his friend, the only one who stuck with him from the very, very beginning.

And now he was dead.

The world faded away around him.

"Why?" He asked no one, "Why is this happening? Am I really going to lose it all again? Is this world going to take away everything from me again?"

His vision turned red as words filled his mind, asking him a simple question.

d0 Y0u s33k PoWeR?

"Power?" Naofumi spoke to himself.

D0 yOU haT3 3veRYtHiNG?

"Hate?" The shielder asked, confused.

His shield menu appeared in front of him and the red haze. Its white circles glitched and fuzed in and out. Images of the king and Malty flashed through his mind.

"I hate it." Naofumi stated bitterly, "I hate it all."

The crystal on his shield turned from a dark green to an equally dark red and it sparked with a red lightning. Malty's laugh echoed through his mind, turning the white symbols of his shield red with hate.

His shield was quickly replaced with the red symbol of hate, surrounding himself in a sphere of it.

His vision cleared, allowing him to see the dragon, everything else was blocked out. He walked forward towards the creature of his current hate, getting right next to it before it tried to attack. When its hand slammed down, all he did was raise his shield above his head, letting the monster's hand crash down onto him.

The dragon's effort proved to be useless though, as Naofumi blocked the attack and glowed an ethereal red. Wind whipped around him as runes covered his skin and armor, his eyes having already gone a deep red.

He roared in anger as power radiated off of him, throwing the dragon off of him. The energy formed a crater at his own feet before changing his shield. It turned into a knight's shield with angry red runes sketched across the dark, stone like surface. That was hard to tell though, due to the flames that licked the new shield.

A wicked grin spread across his face as the dragon tried to whip him with its tail, only for the tail to bounce off of the new shield.

"Burn." Naofumi simply stated in a more demonic voice.

With that word the tail of the dragon was covered in flames, causing the dragon to flail in pain.

Naofumi lowered his shield and started to march towards the dragon, images of all of those who falsely accused him flashing through his mind.

'Kill.' His mind stated, 'Kill them all.'

He lost himself in the red haze again, but the dragon was with him. It took a swing at the shielder, only to be blocked.

'Suffer.'

The dragon was caught on fire wherever it touched Naofumi's shield, making it wreath in further pain.

'Die!' His mind finally screamed, losing itself to its own rage.

Then, as suddenly as everything started, it stopped with a gentle voice, "I believe you."

Naofumi turned, trying to find its source, only to find nothing but himself.

"I am your sword." The voice spoke again.

'This voice…' His mind thought.

"Even if you can't trust anyone anymore, I trust you." The voice sounded, "I trust the great Shield Hero."

His vision cleared suddenly, allowing him to see everything once more.

"What was I doing?" He asked himself, afraid of his previous thoughts.

"Naofumi-sama…" A voice sounded weakly next to him, causing Naofumi to turn in shock, "Thank goodness… you're back."

Raphtalia was hanging onto his arm, covered in fresh burn marks from the shield in his hands.

"Master's back…" Another voice spoke on his other side. When the shielder turned, he found it to be Filo in her humanoid form and in the same condition as Raphtalia.

He snapped into reality when they both fell to the ground, unconscious.

"Raphtalia! Filo!" He screamed, dropping down next to them. He got a better look at the burns covering their bodies, "What's all of this?" He asked in shock, before turning to his new shield, "Don't tell me…" He gritted his teeth, "As the Shield Hero, source of my power, I order thee. Decipher the laws of nature and heal my target. Faust Heal!"

Both of the girls were covered in a thin film of green, but nothing changed.

"Heal my target! Faust Heal!" He tried again, receiving the same result, "I said heal damnit! Faust Heal!" Nothing changed, "It's all my fault…"

He shot out his arm and deflected a strike the dragon threw at him, covering the dragon's hand in flames.

"Go away!" He yelled out in rage, only to pull himself back in before he lost himself. "Stop it!" Naofumi yelled at the flaming shield, waving it around to try and snuff out it's cursed flames.

'To defeat the dragon,' he thought bitterly, 'I have to use this power. But…' He glanced at Raphtalia and Filo on the ground, 'If I lose focus, hatred will consume my mind.'

He grit his teeth in anger and desperation, 'I just want to protect them! Can't I just protect the ones I love!'

His shield pulsed with white light, seemingly hearing his mental declaration, and changed it. It changed into the only thing that could possibly help in this moment.

It changed into a tucked away shield that hated the darkness of the cursed shield with more malice than anything else.

And when it changed, everything stopped.

The dragon froze mid roar.

Flakes of ash froze in mid-air.

Everything was so silent, that Naofumi knew only one thing could have caused it.

The bronze shield on his arm seemed to taunt him with its presence, but he was ready for it this time.

"That's it." Naofumi realized upon seeing the Time Turner Shield, "I need that shield. I need that Sentinel Shield."

The shield emitted its blinding white glow, and Naofumi was ready for it.

His mind accepted it, and he took the plunge.

**(End)**

**Chapter 16 - The Shadow - July 20**


	16. Chapter 16

Disclaimer - I do not own the Destiny franchise or The Rising of the Shield Hero

Sorry this was late, I'm still feeling a bit in the dumps.

But, at least I know it's not Covid.

Thanks to everyone who worried about me, it makes me feel like a happy boi.

Hope you enjoy the chapter(again, sorry it's late).

**Chapter 16 - The Shadow**

"Raphtalia! Filo!" He screamed, dropping down next to them. He got a better look at the burns covering their bodies, "What's all of this?" He asked in shock, before turning to his new shield, "Don't tell me…" He gritted his teeth, "As the Shield Hero, source of my power, I order thee. Decipher the laws of nature and heal my target. Faust Heal!"

Both of the girls were covered in a thin film of green, but nothing changed.

"Heal my target! Faust Heal!" He tried again, receiving the same result, "I said heal damnit! Faust Heal!" Nothing changed, "It's all my fault…"

He shot out his arm and deflected a strike the dragon threw at him, covering the dragon's hand in flames.

"Go away!" He yelled out in rage, only to pull himself back in before he lost himself. "Stop it!" Naofumi yelled at the flaming shield, waving it around to try and snuff out it's cursed flames.

'To defeat the dragon,' he thought bitterly, 'I have to use this power. But…' He glanced at Raphtalia and Filo on the ground, 'If I lose focus, hatred will consume my mind.'

He grit his teeth in anger and desperation, 'I just want to protect them! Can't I just protect the ones I love!'

His shield pulsed with white light, seemingly hearing his mental declaration, and changed it. It changed into the only thing that could possibly help in this moment.

It changed into a tucked away shield that hated the darkness of the cursed shield with more malice than anything else.

And when it changed, everything stopped.

The dragon froze mid roar.

Flakes of ash froze in mid-air.

Everything was so silent, that Naofumi knew only one thing could have caused it.

The bronze shield on his arm seemed to taunt him with its presence, but he was ready for it this time.

"That's it." Naofumi realized upon seeing the Time Turner Shield, "I need that shield. I need that Sentinel Shield."

The shield emitted its blinding white glow, and Naofumi was ready for it.

His mind accepted it, and he took the plunge.

**(The Menagerie - The Leviathan - Six Months After The Black Armory)**

The Menagerie.

The golden playground for Guardians created by Calus, the god emperor who controlled the Leviathan as it floated above Nessus. Captured Hive and Vex roamed the halls of the Menagerie, there to provide entertainment for Calus when the Guardians entered to accept the Emperor's challenge.

One such challenge was being held today.

The giant, circular room was quiet. Braziers filled with blue fire hung from the ceiling on the sides of the room, providing minimal light compared to the hole in the ceiling in the center of the room. The light shined directly onto the center pedestal of the room, a pedestal covered in golden trinkets. Surrounding the pedestal were six unlit braziers, raised by small pillars. Three doorways lined the walls of the room, one on each side. The last wall had a raised platform in front of it, a platform that held the only figure in the room.

Reginald-3 stood tall and proud, clad in orange armor that was studded with royal amethysts. The bottom and toes of his boots were orange, fading to black before being covered in more orange plates that layered on each other and ending just below the knee. His thighs were plated in a similar orange plating, but otherwise black.

His arms were black, but the shoulders were covered in more layered orange plating that was riveted with amethysts. His gauntlets were more layered orange plates stacked on top of black gloves with orange claws on the fingertips.

His breastplate was bulky, but not hindering. The under fabric was black, but the main plating that made it bulky was the same orange material as the rest of the armor. Gold was fashioned around the V shaped neck, gold that was studded with large amethysts.

His helmet was completely orange with the exception of a line of gold on each side and an amethyst on the forehead. The sides of the helmet curved inwards, creating what looked like a spike on the top and bottom of either side when looked at from the front. Two horns stuck out from the top, pointing directly up.

Lastly, a purple sash with a pattern made up of white lines hung around his waist. The sash was held to an orange plate on his waist by amethyst and small, golden plates.

The armor was dubbed the 'Shadow's Plate' by the one who wore it, for that's what it was. An armor of platemail worn by a Shadow.

Reginald wasn't a traditional Shadow though. He wasn't an assassin who followed Calus's every whim without thought. He was given this title by Calus for overcoming his challenges. For slaying the beast known as Gahlran, the Sorrow Bearer and beating the trials of Calus's Menagerie.

He was given the title as a show of respect and in hope that with it, the titan would provide more entertainment before the end of the universe.

That is why the titan, Reginald-3, was here today.

Reginald and his fireteam had already been through the Menagerie, several times in fact, but this time was different. He was alone with only his wit and his strength. The titan didn't mind though. He was ready to charge through this challenge like every one before it.

A deep laugh quickly knocked him from his thoughts, "My Shadow!" The voice stated, echoing around the room, "It is splendid to see you once again! Welcome back to my Menagerie. I do hope you will be able to provide quality entertainment by yourself."

Reginald merely nodded as an auto rifle, one that was rusted over the entirety of its frame. It looked basic as far as auto rifles go, but if you look closely, you would see the old sheen of a gold like material that had once shined brightly. The silencer like barrel at the front of the gun did nothing to quiet its slow roar when it fired.

This was a golden age gun, once corrupted by the hand of Gahlran, now in the hands of a Guardian. It was known to Reginald as Gahlran's Right Hand.

With his gun at the ready, the titan began to step forward, an act that would cause the waves of enemies, whether they were Vex or Hive, to be brought forth to face him.

Only to stop at the brief flash of light that appeared behind him.

The titan wasted no time, snapping around to find its source. It looked like the same cloud Vex troops were always summoned in, but it felt… off. It felt different than normal, like something else was coming through the smoke.

A second later, he was proven right.

It was only thanks to his exo mind that he immediately remembered the green cloak that appeared before him. It belongs to a familiar man, one with a shield.

Naofumi Iwatani was back.

**(Naofumi)**

He was on the ground again, bones aching like the last time he was transported by the shield. This time though, he was more aware of his surroundings. Namely, the seven or so foot tall figure standing in front of him with a gun in their hands. Although, once they got a good look at Naofumi, they lowered their rifle.

Naofumi quickly stood up, backing away from the… man, and raised his shield (currently as the Time-Turner) in front of him.

A boisterous laugh rang around the room, "An unexpected guest! How... curious."

Before the shielder could speak, the armored man's voice rang loudly, "I know him, Emperor Calus." The strangely familiar voice sounded, "I would like some time to speak with him, if you would allow it."

"Of course, of course." The jovial voice rang, "Hopefully he will prove… entertaining."

Naofumi was immediately ticked at the voice's words. He wouldn't be somebody's entertainment. Not in a million years.

"Naofumi," The armored man stated, knocking the shielder from his thoughts, "It has been a while."

The shielder was on guard, "How do you know my name?" He demanded from the armored man. It was only his second time to Lance's timeline.

At least, that's what Naofumi thought happened when the Time-Turner activated.

The man seemed to tilt his head in confusion at first before he looked down at himself. He hummed in realization, "That's right, I was equipped with the Kellslayer's set. Allow me to reintroduce myself." He stood straighter before speaking, "My name it Reginald-3. I am a Guardian, Titan class and member of Fireteam Omega."

Naofumi remembered the name, how could he not. This was the man who caved in the heads of those… Fallen creatures without even flinching. More importantly though, Reginald carried the purple shield that Naofumi came here for.

He lowered the Time-Turner, "You certainly look different." He looked around, finally taking in his surroundings, "Where am I this time?"

"We're in the Menagerie." Reginald stated, casting his own gaze around the room, "Splendid, is it not?"

"A little flashy to me." Naofumi muttered.

"It matters not." The titan responded, "The more important matter is how you got here. One doesn't just appear in the Menagerie, especially when the one who appears doesn't exist."

Naofumi didn't have to ask what he meant by that. If he was a Guardian like Lance, then he probably had a… Ghost like his, and if a Ghost was as advanced as Naofumi thought, then it was likely that they had searched for him.

He held up his shield, "This thing explains both. This is the second time I've been blasted through time by this thing, only this time, I wanted it to happen."

Reginald perked up, "Your saying you traveled in time to get here?"

"Yeah, didn't you hea-" Naofumi started, only to be cut off by a new voice.

"Incredible!" A female voice sounded from his side, causing him to snap in its direction.

It looked familiar. Well, somewhat familiar. It was in the shape of a stellated octahedron… I think. It was mainly black in color, but there were a lot of gold accents that covered its exterior. Its top and bottom portions had small extensions that made it look like a small tower shield. The golden accents were held in place by amethysts that matched the purple of its optic.

'It's a Ghost.', Naofumi realized as it floated over his shield, 'But what is it doing?'

"This shield is made out of Light infused Vex bronze." The Ghost stated excitedly, startling the shielder as the material of the shield was found out in seconds.

Reginald nodded in understanding, "The time travel would make… some sense then. How did you make a shield like that though? I doubt it was easy."

Naofumi didn't even get to speak as the Ghost did it for him, "If what I'm picking up is correct, then the shield created itself. Simply incredible!" She floated up to his face at a high speed, surprising Naofumi, "How does it do it? Do you need a material catalyst? Do you need the original shield present? Is there an original shield or is this the original? Does there have to-"

"Sapphire," Reginald called out, stopping her barrage of questions, "I think you are scaring him."

Sapphire turned back to Naofumi, "Sorry," She apologized, "My scan only showed so much though, and I just wanted to know how it was made."

"It's alright." Naofumi said slowly, stepping back a step, "If you really want to know, my shield can create other shields out of materials I feed it."

Reginald nodded at the shielder's words while Sapphire excitedly went back to scanning the shield.

"That explains how you got here and why you didn't exist, in this time at least," Reginald stated, "But you said you chose to come here this time. Why is that?"

Naofumi's face turned serious. That's right, he had a goal this time.

"I need your shield." The shielder confidently, causing Sapphire to stop her scans and look at him with Reginald.

"My shield?" The titan asked, "What do you mean?"

"The purple one," Naofumi stated clearly, "or the one made of… Void energy I think."

"The Sentinel Shield then." Reginald replied, his voice a little harder, "Why do you need it so badly that you would travel through time to get it?"

Naofumi's first reaction to the question was to try and retort, "That's none of your buies-"

"I think it is." Reginald cut off, "I need you to give me a good reason if I'm going to even try to find a way to give you my shield."

Naofumi scowled at first, only to sigh. He was right. It wasn't his place to just demand something like that.

"... My party members are hurt because of me." The shielder started, "I couldn't protect them with what I had and now they're hurt. Nothing I have is strong enough to protect them. That shield though, the Sentinel Shield, would be strong enough. I could use it to fight back and protect my party. I would be able to protect the only people I have."

Reginald stood silent, but only long enough to make Naofumi nervous, "I don't think I can argue against that." Naofumi perked up, "How would you obtain the shield though? It's not like I can give you a piece of it for your shield to absorb."

The shielder thought for a second before scowling, "It's because it's made out of energy, right?"

"Not really," Reginald stated, "The reason I can't do it is because the shield is impossible to break. Many stronger than me have already tried without success."

Naofumi scowled further, 'If I can't get a piece of it, then how am I supposed to unlock that shield?' A memory suddenly came to the surface of his mind, 'Wait a second, how did I use it the first time?'

The first time Naofumi encountered Reginald and Charlom, the first time he used the Time-Turner, he had used the Sentinel Shield for just a second. How though? All he did was get near it, not absorb anything.

That's when an idea hit him.

"Reginald," Naofumi started, "Can you bring your shield out?"

The titan seemed unsure for a second, but he did as Naofumi asked and raised his arm into the air, summoning the Sentinel Shield in a flash of purple light. It felt as empty as ever to Naofumi. The shielder lifted his own shield next to Reginald's.

At first, nothing happened, but after a few seconds a notification from his shield appeared.

{Would you like to copy this weapon: Sentinel Shield?}

{YES} {NO}

Naofumi almost laughed in joy, but he held himself. He selected yes.

His shield immediately changed. It looked nearly identical to Reginald's shield, the only difference was the pattern etched into it. Instead of the hexagon shaped symbol in the center, there was instead a greenish tinge of light that seemed like it was being swallowed by the purple energy that made up the shield.

Naofumi brought up the shield's stats:

[Sentinel Shield(Beginner) - Mythic - Equipment Bonus: +50 Phy. Defense, +50 Mag. Defense, +10 Attack - 5 SP/s]

A smile of joy covered his face, 'Finally, an attack bonus! Even if it's just 10, I can finally attack!'

"Incredible…" Sapphire seemed to breath out as a beam of light connected her to the new shield, "It's exactly the same."

A boisterous laughter filled the room, breaking all of their thoughts away from naofumi's new shield, "Incredible indeed! To think, one measly shield could copy one of the greatest manifestations of paracausal power. I think we need to see it in action, don't you agree?"

Reginald reacted first, "I don't think that's wise cho-" He was cut off by Naofumi.

"You know what," The Shield Hero stated, "I think you're right… whoever you are."

"Splendid!" The voice rang, "And don't you worry, my little Shadow, I'll only send the weakest I have to offer. I don't think our friend could take anything stronger." Laughter rang out again before the room went quiet.

Reginald cursed under his breath. He turned to Naofumi, "Kill everything that isn't me."

The Shield Hero looked confused, "Wha-"

That was when the screeching started. It was so loud that Naofumi had to cover his ears for a second.

"Welp," Sapphire stated, "That's my cue." She disappeared in a flash of light.

"Hive then." Reginald said before addressing Naofumi again, "Watch out for their claws and gunfire."

The Shield Hero didn't bother asking him what he meant, only nodding as Reginald grabbed his AR, the Sentinel Shield gone.

Another shriek rang through the chamber, only to be followed by more. The fighters turned to the other end of the room and saw their opponents.

There were quite a few of them, 40 to 60 by Naofumi's count. They were all hideous. Some of them looked like walking, hunched over skeletons with claws. Others looked like the skeletons that were covered in armor, holding guns that glowed purple at the barrel. Very few of them were as tall as Naofumi, wielding a sword in one hand and bare fisted in the other.

Reginald wasted no time in charging the creatures, the Hive, while popping off the heads of many of them with his AR. Naofumi was close behind him, charging straight towards a group of small skeletal creatures.

Before they could react, the Shield Hero aimed a hard swing at them.

Like magic, they all turned into a fine purple mist.

Naofumi stared at his shield in amazement. It may be his first real time attacking, but he could tell he did more than just 10 damage. The shield seemed to sense his thoughts as a new notification appeared:

[New Sentinel Shield Skill Unlocked]

[Shield Bash: Slamming the Sentinel Shield into a target will deal ½ Defense x (Attack/10) damage. Cost - 10 SP]

… Well that explained it. Even if it was only half of his defence in total, that was still in the hundreds of damage. With a feral smile, Naofumi smashed his way through more targets.

A roar from across the room stopped his rampage. Turning around, Naofumi found the source of the roar to be a creature that was somehow uglier than everything else in the room. It looked like a sphere with arms and legs. A small mouth was on the underside of its bubbly face, a face that was currently shooting a stream of purple energy at Reginald.

The titan had summoned his shield and was using it to defend himself against the beam. It was only a second before the beam stopped, the large creature seemingly running out of power for it. Reginald took that pause as an opportunity to draw his shield arm back, and throw said shield.

It rocketed through the air and hit the creature dead on, making it stumble. Reginald then slammed his shield, that was somehow back on his arm, into the beast, disintegrating it.

Strangely enough, it dropped two crackling orbs. The titan wasted no time in grabbing one and using his rocket boot things to fly to an unlit brazier. As soon as he slammed it into the brazier, it ignited in blue flames, and a ding rang out through the room.

As Reginald went for the other orb, a loud stomp made Naofumi turn around. He was immediately forced to block a stream of purple lasers. He grunted as he was pushed back, but he held strong and waited for them to stop.

Sure enough, the stream stopped after a few seconds allowing Naofumi to draw his arm back and through his shield forward.

[New Sentinel Shield Skill Unlocked]

[Shield Throw: The Sentinel Shield can be thrown, dealing ½ Defense x (Attack/10) damage. When thrown the shield will bounce off of all targets and return to the user. 30 SP]

The monster stumbled, allowing Naofumi to bash its head in. It took three hits, but the creature went down, dropping two more orbs. He grabbed one and ran to the braziers in the center.

By this point, it looked like Reginald had already lit three of them and was lighting another. The titan was doing them in an order, so Naofumi merely slammed his orb into the next one in line (using his Air Strike Shield as a jump pad).

Reginald gave an approving nod before racing to the last orb Naofumi had left and grabbed it in record speed, slamming it into the last brazier a second later.

Like it was connected to their life force, all of the left over Hive collapsed into piles of bone once the last flames were ignited.

"Ugh, what a slaughter!" The jovial voice of… Calus(?) rang, "If I am to find a new Hive Shadow, I will have to extend my search. Now that you're warmed up, let's get to the rest, shall we?" He ended in a low, ominous tone.

The doors on all sides of the room suddenly opened up, allowing access to the golden hallways to the Menagerie.

"You did well Naofumi, I'm impressed." Reginald stated as he walked up to the Shield Hero, "You've gotten used to the Sentinel Shield rather quickly."

Naofumi smirked, "I'll say. I can finally attack on my own terms now. It's… exhilarating."

Reginald nodded as he hummed in response, "Just don't let it get to your head," He looked down at the shield, "And switch to a different shield for now. I can feel the energy being used to keep it active."

Naofumi looked at his SP meter and saw that the titan was right. His SP bar was already below half from the constant use and it was still draining slowly. He morphed his shield into the Chimera Viper Shield, letting his SP bar slowly go back up.

The Shield Hero grimaced at the bar, 'That's going to take a while to go back up.'

"Now then," Reginald started as he walked to the door on the right side of the room, "Calus has marked the Crystals for us next."

"What?" Naofumi questioned, confused at what he meant. Wasn't this all there was?

"You wanted to test the Sentinel Shield, didn't you?" The titan responded, "Calus has taken that as you wanting a challenge, and I'm afraid that you won't be able to get out of here until we complete it."

**(The Next Room - Minutes Later)**

Naofumi was ticked off. He couldn't believe that he didn't think he wouldn't be stuck here.

It was just like last time. He didn't have a way to get back. The Time-Turner was going to decide when he went back, it was going to decide when he could go back to Rpahtalia and Filo.

His hate for that particular shield grew, but he didn't have time to focus on that now. Right now, he had to fight.

Naofumi examined the new, golden room.

The room had three floors total. The first floor was small and simple. All it had was a red carpet that started from the entrance and went up the steps to the second floor.

The second floor had two small rooms on either side with two entryways to each. On the wall outside of the rooms, there were four, almost diamond shaped holes. There were a total of eight of those holes on the second floor. At the top of the stairs, a door leading out was closed.

The third floor was a little stranger. For one, it didn't have a way to get up to it unless you had the ability to fly, or something close to that. That was why Naofumi couldn't see very much of that floor, only the few empty holes that littered the walls.

The golden head of an… ugly creature was plastered all around the room, but Naofumi didn't say anything about it.

"When the end comes, the Vex will die like everything else." The jovial voice of Calus rang out, "But until then, they have you to help with that. Show me your ferocity and dismantle them."

"He seems pretty happy." Naofumi muttered after Calus went silent.

"That is one of his strong suits." Reginald responded, having heard the Shield Hero.

Light suddenly filled the titan's hand, forming into the shape of a pole with a hexagon on the top. Slamming it into the ground, the banner gained a metallic color with detail. The hexagon on top was in the shape of a skull with a chain around it and swords through it.

"What is that?" Naofumi asked, a little surprised.

"Raid Banners." Reginald answered, "They give us ammo and surge our Light so we can cast our abilities sooner."

'Ammo and ability surges?' Naofumi thought, 'Would that even work with me?' The Shield Hero reached out and hesitantly touched the banner with his shield arm.

The effect was immediate.

All of his missing SP, a little more than half, slammed back to full. The small amount of HP he had lost in the last room was also returned to him, making him stand just a little straighter.

"I'm guessing you're ready then?" Reginald asked/stated to Naofumi, who nodded in confirmation.

The titan had already explained what had to be done in this room on the way here. Apparently, he had to destroy the Harpies, flying robots, and use their lasers to destroy crystals that would appear in the walls.

Naofumi took a deep breath, summoned the Sentinel Shield, and walked into the room.

Clouds formed around the room, clouds arcing with lightning. It didn't last long, and when the clouds disappeared, the metallic bronze of the Vex was revealed.

Goblins(according to Reginald) roamed the floors, seemingly protecting the long rifled Hobgoblins on the higher floors. Towering Minotaurs could be seen around the room as well, surrounded by purple barriers.

The most important troop that appeared though, were the floating constructs with three wings and a red optic. The Harpies.

Reginald wasted no time, ruching forward and blasting it apart with a rusted shotgun that seemed to match his AR. Incredibly enough, the optic of the Harpy stayed intact. Grabbing it, the titan pointed the eye at one of the four glowing purple crystals on the first floor and fired a pure purple laser from it. The crystal took the laser for a few seconds before shattering.

Naofumi charged in after him, blocking the rapid red lasers of multiple harpies as he dashed towards them. There was a pause in their fire, one that Naofumi took advantage of by throwing his shield at them.

The shield bounced off of three of them, destroying them all and bouncing to an unsuspecting goblin and destroying it too. The optics of the harpies dropped to the ground, ready to be picked up.

Naofumi was hesitant though. Did the optics count as a weapon because they could destroy things? He saw Reginald kill a goblin with it, so it definitely wasn't just for the crystals. He didn't know if his shield would even let him pick up the ptic, much less fire it.

There was no sense in not trying though. He grabbed a hold of an optic with hesitant hands… and nothing happened.

No pain, no lightning, nothing.

Naofumi's face broke into another grin, 'Yes! If I can hold this, then that means I can use it to fight off the toug-' As soon as his train of thought went there, his hands were filled with pain and he was forced to drop the optic.

"Ow, ok." Naofumi growled, "Just the crystals then." He picked it back up.

It was fine again.

The Shield Hero rolled his eyes at the pickiness of the Legendary Shield, but he rolled with it, pulling the convenient trigger on the optic after pointing it at the last crystal(Reginald having already taken care of the rest) and destroyed it with an explosion.

As soon as it happened, a larger cloud formed on top of the staircase. From it, a massive minotaur appeared. A minotaur that was easily five times the size of the other minotaurs in the room.

Naofumi had to quickly shield himself from the purple energy blasts that were shot his way, but he still took damage from them. He gritted his teeth as was pushed back by every shot. He didn't have to do it for long though, as Reginald did something insane.

The titan rushed the massive minotaur and punched it in the leg.

To Naofumi, that was suicide. Even while blocking the minotaur's blasts, he still took damage.

Instead of the punch doing nothing though, Naofumi watched in amazement as the punch shattered the minotaur's leg, crippling it. The minotaur fell to the ground, allowing Reginald to put his shotgun on the robot's stomach at point blank range and shoot three rounds. The minotaur fell apart instantly.

"Yup," The Shield Hero heard the titan start, "Definitely a lot weaker than normal."

'Weaker!?' Naofumi exclaimed in his mind, 'Just what does he face normally if this is weak for him?!' He didn't have time to think about it though.

The next wave of enemies started to flood into the room. Not only were there more Vex to worry about, but there were more of the crystals too. Three on the same floor as before, but there were three, maybe four, more on the floor above it. The floor Naofumi couldn't reach.

"Take care of the crystals down here, I can get the ones up above." Reginald yelled to him over the noise of the fresh gunfire that filled the room before jumping up to the highest floor of the room with a burst of air.

From there, Naofumi and Reginald repeated the process as before. They killed harpies, collected their optics, and destroyed the crystals before facing the giant enemy who came in to challenge them.

Like the minotaur, Naofumi was no help with the hydra that came due to its rapid fire weaponry. The cyclop's blasts, on the other hand, were easy to dodge. Because of that, Naofumi was able to help Reginald destroy it.

As soon as the last one was destroyed, the leftover Vex in the room collapsed in a shower of sparks.

Like clockwork, Calus spoke after their victory, "Humanity of Earth is the only opponent I have ever seen contend with the Vex and win. It makes me wonder where you are from, little shieldbearer."

Naofumi didn't answer him, deciding to turn to Reginald instead, "Is there more?" He asked, silently knowing the answer.

"Yes, there is." The titan answered, "It seems like we need to wrangle up some Arkborn."

**(Next Room - A Few Minutes Of Walking Later)**

The next room was incredibly large. About as large as half of Melromarc's castle, maybe bigger. A lot of that room belonged to an empty pit though, one that separated where they were from a large set of stairs and a giant doorway.

The area they were in had what looked like three doorways. On the left side where they were coming in, one on the right side, and one at the true entrance of the room. There were cathedrals on both the left and right sides of the room. Said cathedrals had curtains that could be drawn to cover the insides, but they weren't at the moment. Two large statues of… something holding axes were placed in the front of the room as some sort of decoration.

Reginald led Naofumi to the true entrance of the room as the voice of Calus let out another declaration, one that Naofumi only half listened to, "Have you ever tried to free an energy-people from their interstellar conduits? It is a task only I, Emperor Calus, could undertake. It's too bad that I had to throw some off for… misbehaving. Don't let that be you."

"So," Naofumi started as he recharged his SP and HP with the Raid Banner, "All we have to do is use the energy spikes around the room to charge some seals and kill some Hive boss."

Reginald nodded, "That's the gist of it, but I'm not too sure you're going to be able to absorb the energy."

The Shield Hero looked confused, "Why not?"

"The Light, a paracausal power, flows through me." The titan stated, "Because of that, I can absorb and use the energy here without any negative side effects. You on the other hand don't have the Light to protect you."

After a second of thought, Naofumi agreed. It was too risky to take in a forign energy when it could kill him.

"Alright then, what do you suggest I do while you're doing that?" The Shield Hero asked the titan who responded in kind.

"Keep the Hive off of me as much as you can." He responded, "Other than that, just be careful of the energy spikes."

Naofumi nodded and both of them stepped forward, changing the arena. Green spikes of energy erupted from the floor all around the room. One was close enough for Naofumi to feel. It was a burning feeling that just barely managed to get past his defense, but it didn't deal damage.

He backed away from it, glad he didn't touch it. Reginald, on the other hand, walked straight through the green energy spike like he didn't feel a thing.

For all Naofumi knew, he didn't.

The Hive followed shortly after, invading the room to try and stop them. With both of them on the attack though, it turned out to be a futile attempt.

While Reginald collected energy, slamming it into runes in the front and back of the room, Naofumi smashed his way through the Hive's ranks. Thralls and Acolytes fell by the dozens to thrown shields while Knights and Wizards were smashed to dust whenever they got too close.

With the speed Reginald could move in this open space, it didn't take too long for the runes to be filled with the absorbed energy. When they were filled they both disappeared, sending the room into an unnatural silence.

That was when the Ogre appeared.

The ogre was absolutely massive, bigger than the ogres in the first room they had fought in. Its roar shook the room, even going as far as making Naofumi stumble from the shaking. The Shield Hero was barely able to raise his shield in time to block the lasered attack that was focused on him.

However, that didn't mean the blocking was effective.

Sure, it saved him from dying instantly, but it didn't stop him from flying back into the wall behind him. His defense stat was the only thing that kept his back from snapping in two.

Still hurt like a bitch though.

A loud crack of a shotgun was what stopped the ogre's attack. Lowering his shield, Naofumi saw that Reginald was next to the ogre, shotgun raised.

The ogre didn't stay stunned for long before turning on the titan, raising its foot to stomp on the titan.

Reginald saw it coming though.

With incredible reaction speed, the titan spread his arms straight to his sides. The motion caused familiar purple energy to spread from his hands and form into a dome around him. The dome completely negated the ogre's slam, letting Reginald continue to hit it with his shotgun unhindered.

[New Sentinel Shield Skill Unlocked]

[Ward of Dawn: When activated, a dome of Void energy will surround the targeted area in an unbreakable shield for a short time. Forcing your will into the Ward of Dawn will make the ward stay longer. Durability is 5x Defense. 100 SP. Cooldown between activation depends on Level and Defence - 1.5 day cooldown.]

Naofumi ignored the pop up, instead choosing to run forward and towards the stumbling ogre.

With one giant swing from the Shield Hero, the ogre met the same fate as its kin.

"Ah, brave adventurers, your cruelty makes me jealous." Calus jovial voice rang, "You will kill with barely a thought. Everything is an unthinking, unfeeling target. Marvelous!"

"Thanks for that." Naofumi stated to the titan as they faced each other.

The Shield Hero was breathing heavily due to the damage he had taken from that attack. While it didn't do enough damage to nearly kill him, it still did half of his health in damage.

"No need for thanks." Reginald stated, "I think you'll be happy to hear that we are almost done."

Naofumi stood straighter, "Really?"

The titan nodded, "Our next task is to destroy Hasapiko, one of Calus's beloved."

**(The Royal Theater - Some Time Later)**

It was a theater.

A fucking theater.

It was like this Emperor Calus wanted to drive home the fact that they were just entertainment.

The room had a big stage in the front, one that was covered in red carpet and scattered golden treasures. There were skyboxes on either side of the room, ripe for someone to sit and watch a show. In the back of the room at the top of a set of stairs there was a throne, broken, but still.

_Boom!_

Naofumi shook himself from his thoughts again, dodging another blast from the boss class minotaur.

It was on the stage, standing as tall as the room. A white shield surrounded it, protecting it from all sources of damage.

Well, almost all damage.

Naofumi and Reginald smashed another harpy together, causing the ground under it to glow white. Already knowing what it does, the two of them stepped into it and used their ranged attacks to damage the minotaur's shield.

They had already done this twice, allowing them to damage the boss just as many times. Naofumi had almost fallen victim to the moving white walls, walls that only appeared when Hasapiko's shield had been taken out.

With a pop, the shield came off once more, allowing their attacks to hit the monster. Like before, it raised its arm and summoned forth walls of energy that fried anything that came into contact.

They only had to move though, allowing their combined fire to easily destroy the already weakened boss. The minotaur screeched as it fell apart, but once its sound faded, the room went silent.

A flash of light on the stage grabbed their attention. Naofumi out of curiosity and Reginald out of familiarity.

When they arrived next to it, Naofumi saw that it was a chest. A glorious chest at that.

"Spectacular performance!" Calus cheered, "I loved every second of it! Please, take your reward and let it make you grow fat from strength!"

The chest opened by itself, allowing the two of them to see its contents. Inside was a pistol shaped gun, only bulkier with a revolver like cylinder. Naofumi didn't get a good look at it though, seeing as Reginald grabbed it and stored it away in a flash of light.

There was another object inside the chest as well, one that Naofumi picked up and inspected.

It was a flat piece of metal with four other pieces connected to it. It was about as large as the basic Legendary Shield, but it didn't seem like a shield… at first.

When Naofumi grabbed the handle on the back, it suddenly expanded. The four metal pieces became the corners of the diamond that made up the shield. The new shield body was made out of white, translucent energy. The center was also glowing a soft orange now.

"A Loyalist Shield?" Reginald asked, confused, "Why is that here?"

Calus's deep voice spoke up, "I saw that our friend had a liking for shields, so it would only be fitting that I give him one."

{Would you like to copy this weapon: Loyalist Shield?}

{YES} {NO}

Hesitantly, Naofumi selected yes, causing his own shield to change into the one in his other hand. They were exactly the same except for the glow in the center, it now being green.

[Loyalist Shield - Legendary - Equipment Bonus: +50 Phy. Defense, +50 Mag. Defense - As Long As This Shield Is Equipped, All Attacks Delt To The User Will Deal No Damage. This Effect Can Be Negated If The Center Power Source Take Enough Damage]

...Woah.

This shield is… incredible. No damage taken if the shield is equipped? That was just overpowered.

The original Loyalist Shield suddenly phased through his hand, causing him to frantically look around. He quickly calmed down upon seeing the familiar glow across his body.

"Looks like I'm finally leaving." Naofumi stated in slight relief, but with an undertone of unease. He knew what he had to face when he got back, and he was not looking forward to it.

But at least he had the means to do it.

"Then I hope we meet again, Naofumi Iwatani." Redinald-3 stated to the Shield Hero.

A second later, Naofumi was gone.

**(The Dragon's Mountain - Present Time)**

Naofumi was in the same position that he remembered being in right before he left.

Mainly, next to Raphtalia and Filo and in front of the zombified dragon with his shield raised. Instead of that cursed shield though, it was the Sentinel Shield. He smiled.

The dragon roared and tried to strike Naofumi with its large claws, but he was ready this time. Naofumi directed the strike with his shield, actually managing to bounce the claws off of his shield and make the dragon stagger.

Naofumi pushed forward, bashing the dragon's head with the shield. When he looked at the health bar, he saw it. He finally did damage.

Granted, it wasn't much due to the level difference, but it was damage nonetheless.

He smirked cruelly.

He was going to kill this dragon. He was going to kill it to protect the people of Dragon Village. He was going to kill it to avenge Lance. He was going to kill it to protect Raphtalia and Filo.

And after he kills it, he's going to find a way to heal Raphtalia and Filo.

He was going to atone for his mistake of bringing them here and make it right.

Naofumi readied his shield to charge, 'Come here you bastard, let's end thi…'

… What was that smell? Was it… a storm? It smelled like it, but there wasn't a cloud in the sky.

Naofumi's eyes drifted to behind him, causing his eyes to widen. He lunged over Raphtalia and Filo's prone bodies and activated one of his new skills.

"Ward Of Dawn!" He shouted, draining 100 SP to create a dome over him and his party, and not a second too late.

A streak of light blue lightning bolted to the dragon and before it could even roar, the dragon's head was turned to ash instantly. All Naofumi could see was a ball of light blue lightning that shot tendrils of lightning out to anything near it.

In a few short seconds, the entire dragon was turned to ash. There was nothing left but that pile of ash.

The lightning disappeared, revealing Rifana in its epicenter. She stood slouched over, tears on her face. She wasn't standing for long though.

Her eyes rolled into the back of her head, and she collapsed.

"How did she-" He cut himself off, looking around at all of them in the clearing, "Not now. I need to get everyone out of here." He took another look, "But how…"

He saw movement in the ash, making him raise his shield.

Only to lower it in confusion, "... Shade?"

The black ghost shook the ash off of its shell, "Uh, hey Naoumi." He greeted, "Could I get some help here?"

**(End)**

**Chapter 17 - Kindling - August 3**


	17. Chapter 17

Ok, there's some good news and some bad news.  
The good news, I started working at a new job that I have fun at.  
The bad news, the hour have been constricting to the point where I have no idea when I can get a chapter out.  
I am really, really sorry about that and I will try to get it out, but it may be a bit until then. Most likely when I get used to the new hours and overall scedual change.  
I hope you all aren't too mad at me.

Best Wishes,  
LoganMidnight


End file.
